Women's Basketball goes 1-1 at Thanksgiving Classic Tournament |
| Posted by Administrator on Dec 10 2008 |
Photo by Kevin Whetstone
UNK Senior Jade Meads (30) puts up a shot over the Minnesota State defense Saturday evening during the Thanksgiving Classic at UNK.
By Callie Erickson
Antelope Staff
It is official, Thanksgiving has passed. While many of us may be feeling the sluggish results of massive intakes of turkey, potatoes, stuffing and corn, the University of Nebraska-Kearney Women's Basketball Team worked off those extra calories.
The day after this food-frenzy holiday, the UNK women were back on the court as they competed in the Country Inn and Suites Thanksgiving Classic at the Health and Sports Center.
The Loper women opened the tournament Friday night with an 85-76 win over Concordia-St. Paul. UNK took advantage of Concordia's 17 turnovers throughout the game, and all five Loper starters scored in double figures.
Senior Jonni Mildenberger of Sterling, Colo. tallied a career night as she recorded 18 points and nine rebounds. Mildenberger was successful on seven of her 14 tries. Kaitlin Petri of Kearney also posted a career high as she handed out seven assists.
On Saturday, UNK battled Minnesota State Mankato in a game that was competitive to the very end.
The Lopers led 48-39 at halftime, but the Mavericks battled back in the second half. They used a 9-0 run to grab an 83-78 lead with two minutes and four seconds left.
UNK would close the gap to 89-88 on a three-pointer by Petri. But Mankato's Alex Andrews made a layup in the closing seconds to seal a 91-88 victory.
"It's always disappointing when you work so hard and then lose by three points," senior guard Tana Nelsen of Dorchester said. "All we can do is recognize where we made our mistakes and fix them."
Mildenberger and fellow senior Jade Meads of Elm Creek received all-tournament honors. The Lopers now hold a 4-2 record early into their season.
"We worked extremely hard throughout both games but unfortunately just came up short against Mankato," Nelsen said. "We are all such competitors, and I would have to say it's always more fun when you win, but we will take what we did and learn from that."
The Lopers are focused on winning the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and have their goals set for the remainder of this season.
"We want to win the RMAC Tournament and then make it to the NCAA Tournament," Nelsen said. "These goals are more than reachable for us, and we are excited to do what we can to make them happen."
As the Lady Lopers continue to work hard at practice to perfect themselves for game play, one of their main focuses is on defense.
"When our defense is great, it sparks our offense," Nelsen said. "I think we will keep trying to build on that."
UNK will be back in action Dec. 12, as they take on RMAC opponent Colorado State-Pueblo in Pueblo, Colo. Their next four games are all against RMAC teams.
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