TOPEKA, Kans. — After a tough loss Friday night to Washburn, Southern Nazarene had a great turnaround Saturday afternoon, taking care of business in their last game in Topeka as they defeated Pittsburg State 64-51.
The Storm (2-3, 0-0 GAC) were in control for most of the contest, building an early 11-point lead to kick things off. From there, SNU amassed a 45% shooting clip on the afternoon while performing nearly perfect from the free throw line at 93%. The Gorillas (3-1, 0-0 MIAA) pieced together a solid offense in the third quarter to bring the game within seven. From there, SNU was all gas, no breaks, exploding in the fourth quarter to settle the Gorillas with a 13-point victory.
It was all SNU in the first quarter with each of the five starters registering a point on the stat sheet. Payton Jones gave SNU the big starting lead with her two three balls, allowing SNU to cruise 17-6 over the Gorillas at the end of the first 10 minutes.
Cassandra Awatt delivered bucket after bucket in the second quarter, tallying eight points to help SNU extend their lead even further. The Gorillas were able to pull off 16 points that quarter, but the Storm held up the advantage going into halftime at 34-22.
The third quarter saw a different story as SNU went scoreless for six straight minutes, allowing the Gorillas to sneak in 11 unanswered points, putting them behind seven at 44-37 with two minutes remaining in the third. Lauryn Reither finally woke up the SNU offense with a jumper in the paint, but not enough time was left on the clock to continue the momentum and SNU stayed atop the Gorillas 46-39 moving into the fourth quarter.
Awatt opened the final quarter with a jumper, kickstarting a 3-0 run by the Storm with help from Hannah Giddey and Georgia Adams. From then on, PSU's defensive struggles awarded SNU multiple trips to the foul line, where they continued to tack on the points in the final stretch. Emily Monaghan capped off the scoring for SNU with her pair of free throws and SNU walked away comfortably with the 64-51 win over PSU.
Hannah Giddey was a stat stuffer this game, recording her first double-double with SNU with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Giddey also recorded seven blocks and three assists.
Adams was the other double-double achiever, tallying 14 points and 10 rebounds to go along with two assists and a steal.
Awatt was almost on her way to another double-double, leading the team in points with 18 and pulling down seven rebounds. Awatt also tallied two assists and two steals.
Payton Jones finished with eight points and one block and steal a piece. Monaghan added five points, four rebounds, and four assists while Reither finished with four points and five rebounds.
SNU will head back to Oklahoma for one more non-conference game against the University of Central Oklahoma Saturday, November 26th at 3:30 PM in Edmond. Historically, SNU is 2-7 against the Bronchos, but the Storm have won the last two games with its most recent last season where they won 69-53 at home.
