Mt. Pleasant girls nab first win at No. 15 Ottumwa

The Panther girls earned their first win of the season last night, defeating Class 4A?s 15th-ranked Ottumwa 55-52.

?We rebounded great, grabbing 16 offensive boards and 15 on defense,? Mt. Pleasant head coach, Joanna Settles said. ?And once again, we made more free throws than our opponents.?

The Panthers went 19-for-25 from the line, and Ottumwa managed to go only nine-for-18.

But both teams had to fight for every point throughout the game. Mt. Pleasant held on to a one-point lead to finish the first quarter 11-10 and went into halftime up 23-22.

Ottumwa took a slight edge from there, gaining a 35-34 lead by the end of the third quarter.

Then the Panthers scored 21 points in the final quarter to seal the three-point win.

?It was a big win for the Panther girls,? Settles said.

To claim the victory, the girls focused on slowing down Ottumwa threat Kelsey Nickerson.

?She had been averaging 24.5 points per game, and she only had two points going into the half,? Settles said.

Nickerson is one of five senior starters for Ottumwa.

?Ottumwa was all seniors, and our seniors have played against them for six years,? Settles said. ?The last time (the seniors) beat them was in seventh grade, so it was time.?

After dropping their first two games against other 4A schools, it was time for this year?s Panther team to get a win as well.

The Panthers are now 1-2, and Ottumwa is left still waiting for its first win, now 0-3 on the season.

On the night, Taylor Shull led the team with 27 points ? her game high so far this season ? and became the school?s new career points leader.

Taryne Shull added nine points, Kelsi Phipps put up seven, Natalie Booton and Kaitlyn Johnson each had three points and Natalie Myers, Grace Lutovsky and Katelyn Fry added two points apiece.

Taylor Shull went 11-for-13 from the line, Taryne Shull went five-for-six and Phipps was three-for-six.

Phipps also led the team with nine rebounds, including six offensive rebounds. Taryne Shull added seven, three offensive; Taylor Shull and Katelyn Fry each grabbed five; Lutovsky had three and Booton and Leslie Taylor grabbed one board each.

Taryne Shull had three assists and one block; Taylor Shull also added one block. Leslie Taylor and Phipps had three steals each.

The Panther girls play again at home on Friday against Fairfield, with ninth grade basketball starting at 4:45 p.m.

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Girls who participated in the Mt. Pleasant girls? basketball camp are invited to the Mt. Pleasant girls? basketball conference-opening game this Friday night at the Mt. Pleasant High School. The Panther girls will be facing off against Fairfield, and the varsity game should begin around 7:30.

Campers will get into the game free of charge, and should wear their ?Queen of the Court? shirts. The campers will be announced at halftime of the girls? varsity game.