Box Score Kearney, Neb. – A 13-4 run helped the 17th-ranked Pittsburg State Gorillas pull away from Nebraska-Kearney, 62-43, Thursday night in Kansas.
 
This was the first meeting between Pitt (8-3, 2-1) and UNK (4-6, 1-2) in women's basketball in 24 years. The Gorillas now lead the all-time series, 18-11.
 
Despite shooting 21.9% (7 of 32) in the first half, UNK trailed by just a 25-18 score at the break. The Lopers managed to force 13 turnovers in the first 20 minutes and hung with a bigger Pitt team on the boards.
 
The Gorillas opened up a 10 point lead early in the second half but the Lopers used a 6-0 spurt to make it a 33-29 game by the 14:35 mark. The stretch included back-to-back buckets by senior guard Ivy Jones (Vallejo, Calif.).
 
However, Pitt scored 13 of the next 17 points to lead 46-29 by the 10 minute mark.  Four of the Gorillas points came at the line and leading scorer Lizzy Jeronimus capped the run with two straight layups.
 
UNK, having just 18 turnovers, ended the game shooting 28.3% (15 of 53) from the floor and was11 of 26 (42.3%) at the line.
 
Pitt shot a solid 43.9% (25 of 57) from the field and won the battle on the glass, 41-37. They also had just four turnovers in the second half.
 
Averaging close to 20 points per game on the season, Jeronimus tallied a game-high 14 on 7 of 11 shooting. The 5-11 forward also had five rebounds and two assists in 24 minutes.  

Off the bench, Morgan Westhoff had 12 points thanks to three three pointers.
 
For UNK, Jones had four steals in the first hald and scored a team-high 12 by making five made field goals. Up front, Lincoln sophomore Queen Ohamara had nine points and seven rebounds (four offensive) along with a block
 
The Lopers travel to Northeastern State Saturday afternoon. The RiverHawks upset nationally-ranked Fort Hays State, 54-44, tonight.