No. 8 Lady Saints Can't Overcome First Quarter Struggles

LIBERAL, Kan. – The No. 8 Seward County women's basketball team dropped their first game of the season, 89-80 against Barton.  It's the first Jayhawk Conference loss for the Lady Saints in 15 games.

The Lady Saints (5-1, 3-1) put themselves into a hole in the first quarter, trailing 15 by the end of the quarter.  Seward had to wait three minutes before Vilma Covane put them on the board with a triple. Two minutes later, Carla Covane hit a jump shot, but those would be the only points the Lady Saints would make in the quarter, while giving up 20.

Seward shot made just 2 of 18 from the floor (11.1%) and missed all nine of their attempts from behind the arc.  While the Lady Saints couldn't buy a basket, the Cougars were hitting everything, making 47.1 percent of their shots (8-17). Barton cleaned up on the boards, taking advantage of the Lady Saints misses by outrebound Seward 17 to 8 after the first quarter.

Seward came out in the second quarter firing, with Lexi Hernandez hitting a triple just 11 seconds into the quarter.  An Amy Scott steal and fast break layup on the ensuing position cut the lead to 10, but Mallory Miller stopped the run with a three of her own. Still tied at 10 at the 3:33 mark, the Cougars ended the quarter on a 7-5 run, to push their lead back up to 12.

While the Lady Saints shot nearly 65 percent in the second quarter, the Cougars had an answer for everything, shooting 53% in the quarter.  The difference was the second chance points, as the Cougars came away with 10 in the first half, while the Lady Saints didn't have any.

It was more of the same to start the third quarter, as the Lady Saints struggled to cut into the deficit. Midway through the third, the Cougars had extended their lead to 17 points.  The Lady Saints went on a 7-0 run over the next two minutes to cut the lead to 10 at 54-44. Once again, though, Miller ended the run with another three-point play.

Down 14 points with 48 seconds left in the quarter, Mollie Mounsey hit two free throws to start a 5-0 run to end the quarter and cut their deficit to nine points. Vanessa Caro drilled a three with thirty seconds left as the other contributor to the run.

With under three minutes to play, Seward saw themselves down eight points. A Lexi Hernandez three made the score 72-77 to cut the lead to five, but that is as close as the Lady Saints could get to making the comeback, falling to the Cougars 89-80.

The Lady Saints ended shooting 27 of 70 from the floor (38.6%) and 12 of 39 from behind the arc (30.8%). Barton couldn't miss all night, finishing the night hitting 49.2 percent of their shots, while going 7 of 14 from deep.

Seward was outrebounded 47-26, with the Cougars getting 13 second chance points to the Lady Saints six. The 89 points is the most allowed in a conference game since Seward gave up 90 to Hutchinson in 2013.

Mollie Mounsey led the Lady Saints in scoring with 19 points, while Amy Scott (16 points) and Lexi Hernandez (11 points) joined her in the double-digits.

The Lady Saints will be back in action after Thanksgiving on Saturday (Nov. 25) at 6 p.m. in the Greenhouse when the host the Pratt Beavers. Free tickets are available courtesy of our sponsor Hampton Inn at Hampton Inn or Ruffino's Italian Restaurant.