By Sterling College Athletics
Ottawa, Kan. – It was all Lady Warriors all the way once again Wednesday night as Sterling claimed another big road win. Sterling scored the first 14 points and never looked back against the Ottawa University Braves in Ottawa. Sterling College cruised to another conference victory defeating the Braves 99-66.
Sterling scored the first 14 points of the contest in just under three minutes of play. Karsen Schultz led the Warrior run with 8 points and 2 steals. Things leveled off for a bit for the Warriors, but they never allowed the Braves to get any closer than 6 points in the first quarter. After Ottawa made their run, Sterling pushed right back and opened up the lead to 22 points before Ottawa closed out the 1st quarter on a 7-3 run, closing the gap to 18 points after the first quarter of play. The Warriors were in very much in control with a 36-19 lead. Sterling shot an astounding 66% from the field in the quarter and went 13-16 from the free throw line.
The second quarter was much more balanced and both teams scored at an incredible pace. Ottawa did not let Sterling forget that they were there, at one point cutting the lead to 11 in the second quarter. But just as Sterling always does, they regained their focus and pushed the lead back to 19. Sterling outscored Ottawa 28-26 in the 2nd quarter and took a 64-45 lead into the halftime break. Often times in the KCAC, this is a final score, but the offense was flowing for both teams in the first twenty minutes.
The third quarter was an oddity as Sterling was not able to score for over five minutes of the quarter. The Warrior’s defense at that same time did not let up and only allowed 6 points to the Braves in the stretch so the Sterling lead was never less than 13. Sterling finished the frame on a 15-5 run and ended up outscoring Ottawa 15-11 and actually extended their lead after not recording a point for more than half of the quarter.
Having put the game away early in the contest, the fourth quarter was little more than a formality, but Sterling continued to score near their average. Sterling outscored Ottawa 20-10 in the final frame to run away with a 33 point road win, 99-66.
Bailey Albright looked more like the offensive power we saw for most of last season, leading all scorers with 22 points. Karsen Schultz continued to prove why she is the leading scorer in the KCAC adding 21 of her own. Others in double figures were Korynn Clason with 17 points off the bench, and Taya Wilson with 15 points. Schultz had a double-double grabbing 11 rebounds and Wilson just missed the same feat, pulling in 9 rebounds.
As a team, Sterling shot very well all night. The Warriors shot 50% (31-62) from the field, 46% (6-13) from 3-point range, and Sterling took an incredible 39 free throws in the contest cashing in on 31 of them, accounting for almost one third of their points.
The Warriors return to action Saturday afternoon at 3 pm against the University of Saint Mary Spires. The game will be played in the Gleason Center in Sterling. With the unbalanced schedule the conference plays, Saint Mary is the last contest before the second round of KCAC games begins.
