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FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- Unlike previous University of Saint
Francis seniors, neither Nikki Lewis nor Chivonn Keppeler
stepped over to the microphone after the fourth-ranked Lady
Cougars defeated third-ranked Bethel College 77-62 on
Saturday afternoon.
USF
improved to 24-5 overall, 13-2 in the Mid-Central
Conference, and locked up the No. 2 seed in the conference
tournament that starts on Feb. 20. BC slipped to 23-4, 11-3
in MCC play.
Keppeler and Lewis had their say on the court in their last
regular season game at Hutzell Athletic Center.
Lewis
scored 18 points, one of five Lady Cougars scoring in double
figures, and Keppeler added 11 points in their final regular
season game at HAC. Keppeler, who is the No. 3 career scorer
in USF history, declined a post-game talk not wanting to
leave out the name of so many people who have helped her
over the last four years. Lewis said afterwards that they
are not done.
"It may be our last regular-season game, but it's not our
last game," Lewis said during a post-game potluck that
included family and friends. "Our season is not even close
to being over."
"We just wanted to thank our families and friends, our
classmates," Keppeler said. "We didn't want to leave anybody
out and it's tough to remember everybody in front of a
big crowd. Nikki and I could focus on the game with the rest
of our team and we've got a lot of games to play yet.
"Winning
today was about team today," Keppeler said emphatically. "We
played as a team and that is what made the difference this
time. It was a team effort. A 40-minute effort. We've had a
number of games where we only played hard for 20 minutes,
but I felt like we played hard both halves today. We had to
to get this win."
And
the seniors got excellent support from their teammates.
Junior Tara Dice connected for 12 points, Jessica Hathaway
11 and Tony Burney 11 -- all five starters in double
figures. Dice didn't miss a 3-pointer going 4-for-4.
Hathaway led the USF rebounding effort with eight. And
Burney collected five assists to lead USF.
"Our scoring balance, minimal turnovers and great defense,"
USF coach Gary Andrews summed up the effort after USF won
for the 27th time in its last 28 games. "In the second half,
we really shut Abby Noll down, and Natalie (Young) only had
14 points until about last 2-and-a-half minutes."
Young is averaging 24.5 points a game while Noll is a deadly
3-point shooter averaging 16.2 points a game.
"We didn't give Natalie any easy buckets," Andrews said.
"She's an all-American, so you've got to concentrate on
her." She led BC with 19 points while Noll finished with 15.
BC shot .365 for the game (19 for 52), .320 in the second
half (8 for 25).
USF led from start to finish pulling ahead 41-32 just before
the end of the first half on back-to-back baskets by
Hathaway and Lewis.
"We finished the half strong and then Jessica scored to put
us up 11, that was big," Andrews said.
A Young bucket with 15:30 to play trimmed the USF advantage
to 45-37, but a Dice 3-pointer pushed the lead to 48-37 with
15:14 to play. BC never got the deficit into single digits
again as USF went on a 16-5 surge to take control and finish
the regular season 14-1 at home winning its seventh
consecutive game.
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GO USF -- |
