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University of Nebraska - Kearney Athletics

UNK WBB
Corbey R. Dorsey
62
Winner Neb.-Kearney UNK 17-5,12-4 Mid-America Intercollegiate
55
Newman Newman 2-21,0-17 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Winner
Neb.-Kearney UNK
17-5,12-4 Mid-America Intercollegiate
62
Final
55
Newman Newman
2-21,0-17 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Neb.-Kearney UNK 20 6 18 18 62
Newman Newman 7 19 12 17 55

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Northeastern State

2/10/2022 | 5:30 p.m.

The River 93.1/106.9 KRVN FM

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Feb. 10 (Thu) / 5:30 p.m.
 Northeastern State
History

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

UNK Gets Past Stubborn Newman, 62-55

Kearney, Neb. – Guard Haley Simental tallied a season-high 21 points and No. T-22/27 Nebraska-Kearney went on a 7-0 run late in the third quarter to get past Newman, 62-55, Saturday afternoon in Wichita.

The Lopers win a 17th game (17-5, 12-4) and improve to 8-1 on the road while the Jets (2-21, 0-17) suffer its 17th straight loss. They also have dropped 23 in a row to Division II competition.

UNK got off to a good start as Simental (Pueblo West, Colo.) splashed home two threes and forward Elisa Backes (Salina, Kan.) added another to help build a 20-7 first quarter lead. However, the patient Jets countered with a 19-6 second quarter that featured six second chance points and five Loper turnovers.

"We just had a bad second quarter … that was a bad 10 minutes of basketball," said UNK assistant coach Devin Eighmey on the KRVN radio post-game show. "We can't have that. Not in this league, not when you're trying to play for things that we're playing for."

Newman grabbed its only lead, 32-31, early in the second half but two buckets from forward Shiloh McCool (Pleasant Hill, Ia.) and a Backes three off a Jet turnover gave the Lopers the lead for good. The UNK advantage was six at the end of three and then ballooned to a 54-41 margin in the fourth before the Jets made one final move.

Hitting a couple of unlikely threes, NU got with a 58-55 deficit with less than two to play. Simental responded with a pull up jumper to stem the tide. While the Jets scored again, McCool took a pass from Backes and tallied a layup with 27 seconds left to make it a two-possession game. NU then missed its final four shots

"Getting Haley off the ball to shoot was good for us. She was really aggressive and took on the challenge that we gave to her," said Eighmey. "We didn't panic (down the stretch). Haley hit that big shot when we were up three … that was a senior-move there."

Simental reached her point total by making 6 of 14 (4 of 11 3's) shots and sinking all five free throws she attempted. Over 36 minutes she also had five assists, two steals and drew three fouls. Next, McCool went for 17 thanks to 7 of 10 shooting while also grabbing seven boards (three offensive). Finally among the starters, Backes had 15 points with wing Klaire Kirsch (Rapid City, SD) at 12 rebounds, five points, three dimes and two thefts. Off the bench, forward Maegan Holt (Council Bluffs, Ka.) and three assists and two o-boards. Kirsch moves into third place (844) on the all-time rebounding list with only Heather Steffen (906) and Ginger Keller (894) ahead of her. 

"Our press helped us early on but I thought it kind of wore us down as the game went along. They also hit some shots too," said Eighmey. "Our team did a good job of just finding a way. We played 25, 30 minutes of good basketball." 

Shooting 43% from the field, hitting seven threes and taking advantage of 12 Loper miscues, Newman was led by starter Britney Ho (12 points & eight rebounds) and reserve Laura Bello (11 points & five boards).

The Lopers hosts Northeastern State (4-17, 2-13) and Rogers State (9-13, 5-11) next weekend.
 
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Players Mentioned

Elisa Backes

#5 Elisa Backes

G/F
6' 1"
Sophomore
Maegan Holt

#15 Maegan Holt

G/F
6' 0"
Sophomore
Klaire Kirsch

#20 Klaire Kirsch

G/F
5' 11"
Sophomore
Shiloh McCool

#25 Shiloh McCool

G/F
5' 11"
Sophomore
Haley Simental

#10 Haley Simental

G
5' 8"
Graduate Student

Players Mentioned

Elisa Backes

#5 Elisa Backes

6' 1"
Sophomore
G/F
Maegan Holt

#15 Maegan Holt

6' 0"
Sophomore
G/F
Klaire Kirsch

#20 Klaire Kirsch

5' 11"
Sophomore
G/F
Shiloh McCool

#25 Shiloh McCool

5' 11"
Sophomore
G/F
Haley Simental

#10 Haley Simental

5' 8"
Graduate Student
G