Tigers start season with win and loss

OMAHA, Neb. — The Iowa Wesleyan women’s basketball team kicked off its season on Thursday and Friday with a victory and loss in the CSM Classic.

The Tigers fell short of a win against the College of Saint Mary, 60-51, on Thursday, but bounced back with a dominant win, 84-65, over York College on Friday.

It was a rough start for the Tigers as they struggled to shake off the rust. They shot just 3-13 from the field to start, but only found themselves down to the Flames by two after one quarter of play, 14-12.

Shooting woes continued into the second quarter as the flames quickly built up a 30-19 lead heading into the halftime break.

Coming out of halftime, the Tiger got some rhythm going as they were able to cut the Flames lead to 37-31, but the momentum was short lived as Saint Mary’s ended the quarter with five unanswered to make it 43-31 at the start of the fourth.

In the fourth, the Tigers were once again able to cut into the lead, but time was not on their side as Saint Mary was able to hang on in the end.

The Flames outshot the Tigers 40.4% (21-52) to 28.6% (16-56) from the field and 33.3% (9-27) to 28.6% (4-22) from three.

The Tigers' outshot the Flames from the free-throw line 57.7% (15-26) to 56.3% (9-16). Saint Mary had 16 bench points in comparison to the Iowa Wesleyan’s two points. The Flames out-rebounded the Tigers 43 to 39. The Flames had more turnovers than the Tigers with 17 compared to the Tigers' 14.

Isabell West finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for Iowa Wesleyan. Megan Teal added eight points and 11 rebounds. Breanna Wendland finished with 12 points, four assists and seven rebounds.

Against York College, Iowa Wesleyan had it all figured out.

The Tigers jumped out to a 9-0 lead, as Megan Teal scored seven. By the end of the first, Iowa Wesleyan held a 22-12 advantage.

In the second, both teams traded buckets and a big shot off the bench by Milani McCormack halted a Panther run. The Tigers would prevail in the quarter, 19-16, and held a 41-28 at its end.

Things got close in the third as York put together a big run, pulling within three points at 45-42 after a converted and-one.

Iowa Wesleyan quickly answered back as they went on a scoring spree which included scoring the next 17 points and 21 of the last 22 points in the quarter. By the end of the third, the Tigers led 66-43.

In the fourth, both teams traded basketball once again, but Iowa Wesleyan was able to secure the win thanks to the large lead. York won the fourth 22-18, but it wasn’t enough.

The Tigers outshot the Panthers 55.6% (30-54) to 33.9% (20-59), including 43.5% (10-23) to 26.9% (7-26) from the 3-point line. The Tigers out-rebounded the Panthers 34 to 21.

The Tigers were led by Breanna Wendland and Megan Teal with 16 points each. Wendland also finished 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Teal added 5 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block.

Brielle Baker and Maci Kuchta also finished with 12 points each. Baker finished with 12 points on 5-5 shooting, including 2-2 from the 3-point line and three rebounds. Kuchta added four assists and three rebounds. Milani McCormack finished with nine points off the bench on 3-4 shooting for the 3-point line.

The Tigers will look to continue their winning streak as they host Williams Woods University at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 2 in Ruble Arena.