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University of Nebraska - Kearney Athletics

Klaire Kirsch
Corbey R. Dorsey
58
Pittsburg St. PittSt 11-6,6-5 Mid-America Intercollegiate
72
Winner Neb.-Kearney UNK 15-2,10-1 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Pittsburg St. PittSt
11-6,6-5 Mid-America Intercollegiate
58
Final
72
Neb.-Kearney UNK
15-2,10-1 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Pittsburg St. PittSt 18 12 15 13 58
Neb.-Kearney UNK 22 15 17 18 72

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Backes & Kirsch Reach Milestones as UNK Moves Back into First Place

Kearney, Neb. – Redshirt juniors Elisa Backes and Klaire Kirsch both reached career milestones as No. 12/14 Nebraska-Kearney downed Pittsburg State, 72-58, Thursday night at the Health & Sports Center.

The Lopers (15-2, 10-1) are now in first place in the MIAA standings as Missouri Southern State shocked No. 2/3 Fort Hays State, 54-41, tonight in Kansas. UNK hosts the Tigers (15-2, 9-2) in a key game next Saturday at Buckle Court while the Lions (11-5, 8-3) visits this Saturday.

Shooting 54% from the field, its second highest mark of the winter, the Lopers beat the Gorillas (11-6, 6-5) for a third straight time. Getting three starters and Backes (Salina, Kan.) into double figures, UNK led by four after the first quarter, seven at the break and nine after 30 minutes.

Backes tallied 15 points in just 22 minutes as she made 5 of 6 shots (2 of 2 3's) and 3 of 4 free throws. She also pulled down five defensive boards and becomes just the 27th Loper to reach 1,000 career points (1,012). "Betty Buckets" has done this mainly as a reserve as she has appeared in 104 games with 12 starts. Next, Kirsch (Rapid City) posted her fourth double double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds (nine defensive). She went 6 of 8 at the line with her career carom total at 802. She joins Heather Steffen ('04), Ginger Keller ('94) and Janelle Miratsky ('98) as the only UNK women's players to reach 800 career boards. Kirsch, averaging close to nine boards a game, could break Steffen's school-record (906) by the end of the year.

"Elisa and Klaire have been around awhile and reached milestones in things they do pretty well. Klaire is one of the best rebounders in the conference and was able to grab 11 of them tonight. We kind of take that for granted but a double-digit night is normal for her. Rebounding is hard to teach … I'm kind of the belief either you do it or you don't," said Loper head coach Carrie Eighmey. "Elisa, especially over the last couple of years, has been able to help us offensively because she's such a threat from so many places on the floor. She's a matchup nightmare for so many teams."

Also for the Lopers, redshirt sophomore guard Trinity Law (Brandon, SD) logged at team-high 38 minutes and went for 15 points (2 of 3 3's) and three fouls drawn with Iowa redshirt junior forward Maegan Holt at 12 points on 5 of 5 shooting. She's up to 832 career points and could be next Loper to reach the 1k mark.

"It just depends on the day for our team of who is going to be able to give us an offensive boost. Tonight, Trin was able to give us a good boost, get some things going for us and be a threat from the perimeter. That really allowed us to get into the paint and get our posts some touches," said Eighmey.

Going just 2 of 20 from behind the arc and missing seven freebies to boot, Pitt had four starters and a reserve in double digits. Each was between 10-11 points with reserve Sydney Holmes posting a double double (10 & 10).
  
 
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