OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha women's basketball team used a decisive 20-8 run midway through the second half to put the game out of reach and earned a 68-54 win over Peru State on Monday night at Sapp Fieldhouse.
Omaha improves to 3-3 on the season, while Peru State is 1-5.
Mikaela Shaw had her third double-double of the season to lead Omaha. Shaw had a career high 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. She was 9-of-13 from the field and 6-of-8 from the charity stripe.
Lanese Bough had 10 points and seven rebounds for Omaha. Brianna Bogard had nine points and five rebounds. Annie Penquite had six points and six rebounds, while Cathleen Cox chipped in five points. Freshman Vanessa Barajas had a career high nine rebounds and four blocked shots to go with two points.
Shelbie Hess led Peru State with 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field, including 4-of-9 from beyond the three point arc. Sydney Young and Karlee Stuart each added seven points.
Omaha never trailed in the game, but Peru State kept it close throughout. Mikaela Shaw and Remy Davenport opened the scoring for the Mavs. Peru State's Karlee Stuart hit a jumper and a pair of free throws to tie the game at 4-4 at the 17:59 mark of the first half. Brianna Bogard broke the tie with a lay-up and Cathleen Cox drained a 3-pointer to put Omaha up by five points with 17:01 remaining in the half. A Lanese Bough lay-up with 41 seconds left in the half gave UNO a 35-22 halftime lead.
Peru State came out of the halftime break with a 12-2 run to close the gap to 37-34. A pair of Mikaela Shaw jumpers pushed momentum back in favor of the Mavs and increased the lead to seven points, 46-39. The Bobcats cut UNO's lead to 49-46, but could not close the gap. Omaha limited Peru State to just two baskets from the floor in the final 9:24 and went on a 19-8 run to end the game.
UNO shot 40.3 percent (27-of-67) from the floor and 23.5 percent (4-of-17) from long distance. Peru State was held to 29.8 percent (17-of-57) from the floor and 31 percent (9-of-29) from 3-point range. The Mavs were 62.5 percent (10-of-16) from the charity stripe, while the Bobcats connected on 57.9 percent (11-of-19) from the free throw line.
The Mavericks dominated the glass and outrebounded the Bobcats by a 52-36 margin, including 20 offensive boards. Omaha also blocked seven shots.
Omaha hits the road this weekend for a pair of non-conference games. The Mavs will open the road trip in Charleston, Ill. on Friday, Dec. 5 against Eastern Illinois. Tip-off at Lantz Arena is set for 7 p.m. UNO wraps up the road trip on Sunday, Dec. 7 against the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.at the Klotsche Center in Milwaukee, Wis. Sunday afternoon's game will be carried on ESPN3.
