KWC advances to G-MAC title game

Mar. 6—The Kentucky Wesleyan College women's basketball team will play for a conference championship once again.

The second-seeded Panthers overcame a sluggish start in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference tournament semifinals Friday night before a big second-quarter effort lifted them to a 77-57 victory over No. 6 seed Findlay in Cedarville, Ohio.

With the victory, Wesleyan advances to play No. 5 seed Tiffin — which upset top seed and host Cedarville 72-56 earlier Friday — for the league title Saturday at 2 p.m. CT. The game will be available on the Great Midwest Digital Network, with the radio broadcast on WBIO-FM 94.7.

"We're pumped," said KWC senior Kaylee Clifford, heading to her third consecutive G-MAC championship game. "Three time's a charm, so we're going to go out there and fight and try to bring a championship back to Owensboro."

First, however, the Panthers (18-4) had to get through Findlay (12-11).

Wesleyan fell behind 15-6 after Oilers leading scorer Sydney Kin posted nine early points, but a second foul on the all-conference first team member sent her to the bench — allowing KWC to take advantage. The Panthers answered back with an 8-2 run, pulling within 17-13 at the first break.

After Paige Bellman gave Findlay a 21-16 advantage with 7:27 left in the second period, Clifford knocked down a deep 3 — her second of the frame — to spark a furious 23-6 run by the Panthers. Five different players made shots from beyond the arc in the second quarter, lifting KWC to a 39-27 halftime lead.

"What happened in the first quarter was we were getting really good shots, they just weren't going in," Wesleyan co-head coach Caleb Nieman said. "We told them at the timeout to just lock in defensively and keep shooting those same shots and we'll be alright. Slowly but surely, I thought we got better on the defensive end.

"We started the game quiet and eventually, over the course of the game, I thought our energy and communication improved."

A 3-pointer by Allison Utterback and a free throw by Kin cut Findlay's deficit to eight points early in the third quarter, but Wesleyan responded with three consecutive 3s — two by Leah Richardson and one by Jordyn Barga — to build a 50-31 advantage less than three minutes later.

Another Richardson 3, along with a layup and a deep shot from Shaylee McDonald, gave KWC a 63-42 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Ellis made a pair of free throws for Findlay, bringing her team within 12 points with 7:45 remaining, but Wesleyan scored 14 of the game's final 20 points to seal the victory.

Clifford led KWC with a game-best 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting, including 7-of-15 from 3-point range. Richardson finished with 14 points with six assists and five steals, and McDonald added 11 points. Clifford and Shiya Hoosier reeled in six boards apiece, and Lily Miller dished out five helpers.

The Panthers, who recorded 21 assists on 27 made baskets, shot 40.9% from the field, making 19-of-48 shots from beyond the arc (39.6%), and knocked down all four free-throw attempts. KWC also claimed a 34-30 rebounding edge despite its size disadvantage, resulting in a 16-0 lead in second-chance scoring.

"We knew Findlay was going to give us any 3 we wanted, we just had to make some of them," Nieman said of his squad's outside shooting.

Kin finished with 16 points, and Bridget Landin and Lilly Simon added 11 points apiece for the Oilers, who shot 44.2% from the field, 3-of-17 from deep (17.6%) and 16-of-18 at the charity stripe (88.9%).

Wesleyan will look for its first conference title since 2013-14 when it faces Tiffin — a team the Panthers beat 61-48 on Jan. 7 in Owensboro.

"Tiffin is the slowest-paced team in our conference, and we're the fastest-paced team," Nieman said, "so it'll be a battle of paces tomorrow."

FINDLAY17-10-15-15 — 57

KENTUCKY WESLEYAN13-26-24-14 — 77

Findlay (57) — Kin 16, Landin 11, Simon 11, Bellman 8, Utterback 5, Ellis 4, Organ 2.

Kentucky Wesleyan (77) — Clifford 23, L. Richardson 14, McDonald 11, Hoosier 7, Johnson 6, Miller 4, Walton 4, Barga 3, Willis 3, Nolot 2.