Sterling College

By BOB DAVIDSON
Salina Journal
Sterling clinched the KCAC regular-season title in dominating fashion. It's the ninth conference title for veteran Sterling coach Lonnie Kruse, who is the winningest coach in the history of Kansas collegiate women's basketball and is in his 27th season.

The Warriors (15-1, 18-7) notched their 12th consecutive victory with a balanced scoring attack and suffocating defensive effort that produced 18 Wesleyan turnovers and held the Coyotes to 28.3 percent shooting.

"They had a lot riding on the game and played very, very inspired basketball tonight," KWU coach Gordon Reimer said. "They were definitely the best defensive team on the floor tonight. They played great defense, and we played very poor defense. "They had a lot more heart tonight than we did. That's all there is to it." Kruse received a ceremonial dip in the swimming pool afterward — a tradition for the Warriors.

"We're a team that our defense keys our offense," Kruse said. "We're not a great offensive team — we have some weapons ... but when we can play defense and hit a few outside shots we're pretty tough. "This ranks up there (with the best defensive efforts of the year). We've had several outings this year where we've shut people down." Sterling led 34-20 at halftime and broke the game open with a 15-0 run in the second half.

The Warriors were leading 48-38 with 11 minutes left when they embarked on the decisive surge. Jacci Tinkel led Sterling with 20 points, including 4 of 6 shooting from 3-point range. Ashley Kraft had 17 points and six rebounds, and Hilary Stucky 13 points and seven rebounds. The Warriors shot 44.6 percent and got 23 points off of Wesleyan's turnovers. They also won the rebounding battle 46-39.

Kaylaen Dittmer led Wesleyan (8-8, 11-15) with 11 points. Tierra Baldwin finished with eight points and 12 rebounds, breaking her string of six consecutive double-doubles. The Warriors took control of the first half with an 18-2 run midway through the first half, a surge that turned an 11-10 deficit into a 28-13 lead with 3:18 left before halftime. Wesleyan went six minutes without scoring a point, a drought that started with 8:10 left in the half and continued until the 2:11mark.

Sterling has locked up a bid to the NAIA National Basketball Championships in Sioux City, Iowa by clinching the regular season championship. Sterling will travel to Tabor College on Thursday, before closing out the regular season on Saturday at Bethany College.