Eagles Edged by Bulldogs Despite Hot Shooting Night

McPHERSON, Kan. – Despite a season high team shooting percentage anchored by yet another strong offensive showing from Hannah Smith, Avila women's basketball (2-17, 2-11 KCAC) was nicked by McPherson (8-11, 5-8 KCAC) in a tight 74-70 contest on Wednesday night in McPherson.

It's no secret that scoring points has at times been troublesome for the Eagles this season, but that was not the case Wednesday night: Avila scored 70 points, one off their season high, and shot 52% from the field as a team along with 53% (10-of-19) from beyond the arc. It's the first time this season the Eagles shot over 50% in either category this season, and the second time this season the Eagles shot north of 45% from the field against the Bulldogs.

But on this night, despite getting outgunned, the Bulldogs were able to withstand a number of clutch shots from the Eagles to ultimately earn a tight win and avoid the season sweep at Avila's hands. McPherson took better advantage of their takeaways and made 15 of their 21 free throws, while Avila was afforded only eight trips to the line all night.

It was truly a back and forth and entertaining contest. The game was played within single digits the entire night, and the game featured five ties and a whopping 14 lead changes. McPherson led by one after the first quarter; Avila rallied for a halftime lead; McPherson cut the Eagles' lead down to one going into the fourth; finally, the game came down to free throws yet again, and the Bulldogs hit theirs in the final minutes to pull out a tight win.

Smith was once again excellent early to kickstart the Avila offense. McPherson started the game up 9-2 (their largest lead of the night) before Smith knocked down a pair of threes and hit another shot for eight points, helping Avila pull within 11-10 after one. Then Daisy Washington dominated the second quarter, draining threes on back to back possessions to score 10 points in the period, nearly as many as the Bulldogs had as a team (11).

That helped Avila to a 27-22 lead at the break, and both team's offenses exploded in the fourth quarter. The two sides combined to miss only nine field goals (against 20 makes) and only missed two threes. Dy'mond McElrath made a few driving layups for McPherson, but those were canceled out by clutch buckets from Kayla Navy and Eireon Adams.

Avila clung to a 50-49 lead going into the fourth, and for the first four minutes of the final period the two teams traded basket for basket before Smith and London Foster finally got Avila consecutive buckets, putting the Eagles up 59-56. McPherson rallied to score the next six points, but Avila punched back with baskets from Kaytee Frasher and Emily Baldwin, tying the score at 63 with two minutes to go.

Later, tied at 65, newcomer Tytiana Haamid put the Bulldogs in front with an and-one. Frasher set up Navy for an answer with 24 seconds left, but the Eagles couldn't close that final one-point gap: Smith sank one final three to give Avila a chance, but McPherson hit its final six free throws to prevent any chance at a late comeback, and preserve a 74-70 victory.

McElrath led a balanced McPherson attack with 16 points along with five assists. Matisyn Moses scored 14 and Summer Kirkman added 13. Washington dropped a season-high 10 points off the bench; Frasher continued to rake in the rebounds with a game-high 11 along with seven assists; and Smith was stellar again, setting a new Avila career high with 27 points on 10 made field goals (a new career high) including seven threes (tying a career high).

Up next, Avila women's basketball will return home to Mabee Fieldhouse to face the Bethany Swedes this Saturday, January 21. JV men's basketball will kickstart our first home tripleheader of the season at 12:45 PM, with women's varsity to follow at 3 and men's varsity closing the day at 5. As always, you can watch all the action on the Avila Sports Network.