#19 Lady Saints Grind to Another Win

Sometimes you win them pretty and sometimes you don't.  That was the Lady Saints motto this weekend as they wrapped up play in the Garden City Thanksgiving Classic Saturday in the Perryman Center.  Coming off of a 116-69 win over Lamar Friday, the Lady Saints had to grind things out a little bit more on Saturday as they took on the defending WJCAC Champion New Mexico Lady T-Birds. Seward led by nearly 30 with under 15 minutes to go in the game after building a 20 point halftime lead and remained up by 15 with just over a minute remaining, but a furious late game comeback made the Lady Saints flinch and Seward hung on by the skin of their teeth, winning 69-66 to remain perfect on the season at 9-0

The Lady Saints, as they have nearly all season, got off to another good start Saturday in their matchup with New Mexico.  Seward took an early 7-3 lead and were up 16-9 at the first half media timeout.  An 8-2 run extended Seward's first half lead to 24-11 and with under two minutes remaining in the half the Lady Saints built their lead to 30-15.  The gals in green continued to push, outscoring New Mexico 7-2 in the final two minutes of the period to race into the locker room with a commanding 37-17 advantage.  The Lady Saints first half defense was suffocating on the T-Birds as New Mexico shot just 29% and did not have a three point make in the period while Seward shot 54% from the field and hit on 2 of 4 from deep.  

Seward scored the first nine points out of the locker rooms at half and the route was on.  The run gave the Lady Saints a 46-17 lead with 14:29 remaining and it looked like Seward was surely in the clear for the rest of this one.  And that is exactly why they play all 40 minutes of the game out.  By the media timeout, the T-Birds had cut the Seward lead to a manageable 53-36, but it still felt like a contest in which the Lady Saints had the control. New Mexico found their groove and with four minutes to go it was down to a 10 point game at 62-52 in favor of the Lady Saints.  Seward regained their composure and built their lead back to 15 with a minute to go and again it looked like the Lady Saints could coast to the finish line.  Again they were wrong.  The Lady Saints struggled to make foul shots as New Mexico was forced to foul and Seward couldn't stop or even slow down the Lady T-Birds on the other end of the floor as quickly it was just a seven point game with 30 seconds still on the clock.  Two more missed free throws and a turnover later for the Lady Saints and New Mexico had cut the Seward lead to just one possession at 69-66 but thankfully for the Lady Saints, the clock was on their side as in the process, it had wound down to under one second remaining.  Seward inbounded the ball and the final 0.6 seconds ticked off the scoreboard and they hung on to win 69-66.  New Mexico shot 57% in the second half and the Lady Saints converted on just 8 of 18 from the foul line to allow the T-Birds back into the game.

It was the best outside shooting night of the young season for the Lady Saints who connected on 57% from three point range.  They should have thought about moving back to the three point line for their free throws Saturday as well as Seward shot just 54% from the line, a season low.  Korina Chapman powered the Lady Saints in the win, notching a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds in the matinee affair.  Her partner in crime on the inside, Shanise Brooks had a big game as well, going for 19 on 7 of 12 shooting to lead the way in the scoring department for Seward. 

The 19th ranked Lady Saints move to 9-0 on the year, marking their best start since the 2009-2010 season in which they went 31-3.  Next up for Seward are dates with McLennan and Labette Friday and Saturday in the Greenhouse when they host the Pizza Hut Classic in Liberal.  Both games will begin at 6:00.