Saint Francis Beats Grace 79-55
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
FORT WAYNE - If you aren't careful, the statistics might fool you.
Despite St. Francis defeating Grace 79-55 Wednesday in college women's basketball, the win means little to the NAIA No. 1 ranked Cougars.
Meanwhile, for the visiting Lancers, it was another statement for the character of the squad.
Forget the 24-point margin. St. Francis' points-to-possession ratio was excellent. But it doesn't matter. Team shooting was 50.8 percent, but that's deceiving too. Don't look at the 15 assists, 14 steals or the 10 turnovers.
USF coach Bruce Patterson was not amused with the lack of intensity and the effort displayed by the NAIA top-ranked Cougars.
"For their sake, I kind of wish they would have lost," Patterson said. "Obviously you don't wish for that, but if we play like that we will lose."
Grace coach Lori Wynn says what the Cougars may have lacked with intensity, the bench was enough to cover.
"They've got a few more guns then we do," she said.
The Lancers won the battle on the offensive and defensive boards, pulling down 33 to 28 for Grace. The Cougars also committed 23 fouls, sending Grace to the line 29 times.
"There was a whole litany of things I wasn't pleased with," Patterson said. "We didn't play with a fire in our belly," he said. "We are playing defense, and we are supposed to be the aggressor, and we are standing around watching kids dribble the ball around. That doesn't make sense."
Patterson doesn't know what problem was, but he'll find out Thursday. The Cougars were scheduled to have an off-day. The dismal showing changed his plans.
"If you asked me which team I'd be prouder to coach," Patterson said, "I'd say Grace. They played harder. They wanted to win more, they wanted everything more. The only thing is, we have better players. I give Coach (Wynn) a lot of credit for what they did tonight.
"I am very pleased with the way they played. They didn't quit, and they kept coming after people. That's a trademark of what I'd like us to be as a team."
Grace's Tracie Mezera scored 14 points, while Sidney Bollier and Kari Helmuth each added nine points. Helmuth also netted six rebounds.
Saint Francis was paced by Jennie Thomas with 17 points and five rebounds.
Manchester products Katie Parker and Megan Eckert scored five points each.
The game was the Mid-Central Conference opener for both squads.
The Lancers trailed by just five points with 17:40 in the second half when Mezera nailed a three-pointer.
Saint Francis responded with a 23-6 run over the next 4:50 to build a 16-point lead and put the game out of reach for the visiting Lancers. The host Cougars took the lead for good with 12:04 to play in the first half when Eckert nailed a three-pointer. The long-range bomb put Saint Francis up 11-8.
Saint Francis improves to 17-2 and 1-0 in the MCC. Grace drops to 6-10 and 0-1 and will host NAIA No. 25 Bethel on Tuesday.
No. 1 St. Francis 79, Grace 55
At Fort Wayne
Grace (6-10, 0-1) - Mezera 5-7 2-3 14, Mowery 1-3 5-6 7, Bollier 3-9 2-4 9, Helmuth 1-5 6-8 9, Marquis 3-7 2-4 8, McClure 2-4 2-2 6, Krach 0-3 2-2 2, Edwards 0-3 0-0 0, Totals 15-41 21-29 55.
USF (17-2, 1-0) - Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Parrett 3-4 1-3 7, Dunbar 2-3 2-2 8, Moore 2-3 1-2 5, Ehle 2-4 0-0 4, Richardson 2-6 4-4 8, Bruening 3-3 1-1 7, Parker 2-6 0-0 5, Myers 1-4 0-0 2, Behnke 2-3 1-1 5, Thomas 7-13 3-4 17, Neu 3-4 0-0 6, Eckert 2-7 0-0 5, Totals 31-61 12-15 79.
Halftime score-USF 34-24. Three-point goals: Grace 4-9 (Mowery 2-2, Bollier 1-3, Helmuth 1-3), USF 5-17 (Dunbar 2-2, Moore 1-2, Ehle 0-1, Richardson 0-4, Parker 1-3, Eckert 1-5). Rebounds: Grace 33 (Helmuth 6) USF 28 (Thomas 5, Parrett). Total fouls: Grace 15, USF 2. Fouled out: Bollier. Assists: Grace 5 (Mowery 2), USF 15 (Richardson 3, Parrett 3). Turnovers: Grace 26, USF 10. Steals: Grace 3 (Helmuth 2), USF 14 (Bruening 4). [[In-content Ad]]
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FORT WAYNE - If you aren't careful, the statistics might fool you.
Despite St. Francis defeating Grace 79-55 Wednesday in college women's basketball, the win means little to the NAIA No. 1 ranked Cougars.
Meanwhile, for the visiting Lancers, it was another statement for the character of the squad.
Forget the 24-point margin. St. Francis' points-to-possession ratio was excellent. But it doesn't matter. Team shooting was 50.8 percent, but that's deceiving too. Don't look at the 15 assists, 14 steals or the 10 turnovers.
USF coach Bruce Patterson was not amused with the lack of intensity and the effort displayed by the NAIA top-ranked Cougars.
"For their sake, I kind of wish they would have lost," Patterson said. "Obviously you don't wish for that, but if we play like that we will lose."
Grace coach Lori Wynn says what the Cougars may have lacked with intensity, the bench was enough to cover.
"They've got a few more guns then we do," she said.
The Lancers won the battle on the offensive and defensive boards, pulling down 33 to 28 for Grace. The Cougars also committed 23 fouls, sending Grace to the line 29 times.
"There was a whole litany of things I wasn't pleased with," Patterson said. "We didn't play with a fire in our belly," he said. "We are playing defense, and we are supposed to be the aggressor, and we are standing around watching kids dribble the ball around. That doesn't make sense."
Patterson doesn't know what problem was, but he'll find out Thursday. The Cougars were scheduled to have an off-day. The dismal showing changed his plans.
"If you asked me which team I'd be prouder to coach," Patterson said, "I'd say Grace. They played harder. They wanted to win more, they wanted everything more. The only thing is, we have better players. I give Coach (Wynn) a lot of credit for what they did tonight.
"I am very pleased with the way they played. They didn't quit, and they kept coming after people. That's a trademark of what I'd like us to be as a team."
Grace's Tracie Mezera scored 14 points, while Sidney Bollier and Kari Helmuth each added nine points. Helmuth also netted six rebounds.
Saint Francis was paced by Jennie Thomas with 17 points and five rebounds.
Manchester products Katie Parker and Megan Eckert scored five points each.
The game was the Mid-Central Conference opener for both squads.
The Lancers trailed by just five points with 17:40 in the second half when Mezera nailed a three-pointer.
Saint Francis responded with a 23-6 run over the next 4:50 to build a 16-point lead and put the game out of reach for the visiting Lancers. The host Cougars took the lead for good with 12:04 to play in the first half when Eckert nailed a three-pointer. The long-range bomb put Saint Francis up 11-8.
Saint Francis improves to 17-2 and 1-0 in the MCC. Grace drops to 6-10 and 0-1 and will host NAIA No. 25 Bethel on Tuesday.
No. 1 St. Francis 79, Grace 55
At Fort Wayne
Grace (6-10, 0-1) - Mezera 5-7 2-3 14, Mowery 1-3 5-6 7, Bollier 3-9 2-4 9, Helmuth 1-5 6-8 9, Marquis 3-7 2-4 8, McClure 2-4 2-2 6, Krach 0-3 2-2 2, Edwards 0-3 0-0 0, Totals 15-41 21-29 55.
USF (17-2, 1-0) - Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Parrett 3-4 1-3 7, Dunbar 2-3 2-2 8, Moore 2-3 1-2 5, Ehle 2-4 0-0 4, Richardson 2-6 4-4 8, Bruening 3-3 1-1 7, Parker 2-6 0-0 5, Myers 1-4 0-0 2, Behnke 2-3 1-1 5, Thomas 7-13 3-4 17, Neu 3-4 0-0 6, Eckert 2-7 0-0 5, Totals 31-61 12-15 79.
Halftime score-USF 34-24. Three-point goals: Grace 4-9 (Mowery 2-2, Bollier 1-3, Helmuth 1-3), USF 5-17 (Dunbar 2-2, Moore 1-2, Ehle 0-1, Richardson 0-4, Parker 1-3, Eckert 1-5). Rebounds: Grace 33 (Helmuth 6) USF 28 (Thomas 5, Parrett). Total fouls: Grace 15, USF 2. Fouled out: Bollier. Assists: Grace 5 (Mowery 2), USF 15 (Richardson 3, Parrett 3). Turnovers: Grace 26, USF 10. Steals: Grace 3 (Helmuth 2), USF 14 (Bruening 4). [[In-content Ad]]