OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha women's basketball team held off Midland University for its fourth straight win on Wednesday evening at Baxter Arena, 58-53. UNO improved to 7-2 on the season. Midland dropped to 6-5 overall.
Mikaela Shaw led the Mavericks with 15 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Caroline Hogue added 12 points, four rebounds, and three blocked shots. Ellie Brecht chipped in 11 points and three rebounds. Abi Lujan had seven points and eight rebounds.
Midland's Joelle Overkamp had a game-high 23 points. Teammate Miranda Paul added 11 points. Sammi Licari had seven points and six boards.
The Mavericks shot 43.4 percent (23-53) from the field and 42.1 percent (8-19) from 3-point range. The Warriors were limited to 31.3 percent (15-48) from the field and 28.6 percent (6-21) from distance. UNO was 80 percent (4-5) at the free throw line, while MU hit 81 percent (17-21) from the charity stripe.
Omaha won the rebounding battle 37-23. The Mavericks also blocked six shots compared to only one by the Warriors.
In the first quarter, Omaha built a five point lead at 14-9 after a three from Ellie Brecht, but Midland battled back to close the gap to 14-11 at the end of the quarter.
Midland took the lead early in the second quarter on a jumper from Licari and a layup from Mandi Uecker, 15-14. Omaha regained the lead on a 3-pointer from Marissa Preston and a layup by Shaw. Overkamp and Licari each hit 3-pointers as Midland retook the lead with 3:39 left in the first half, 23-22. UNO ended the half with a 5-1 run as Remy Davenport drained a three and Hogue scored a bucket in the paint. The Mavericks led the Warriors at the half, 29-25.
Coming out of the break, Omaha turned up the heat, stretching the lead to 13 late in the third quarter, 45-32. Lujan got the run started with a jumper and Shaw and Barajas followed with back-to-back layups. Shaw nailed a 3-pointer before Hogue connected on two straight field goals with both assists coming from Shaw. Overkamp hit a 3-pointer to stop the UNO run, but Shaw scored on a lay-up to make the score 47-35 at the end of the third quarter.
The Mavericks continued to stretch the lead early in the fourth quarter. Brecht opened the period with a 3-pointer to make the lead 50-36. Another trey from Brecht midway through the period pushed the lead to 15, 56-41. Midland cut the lead to three points with 32 seconds left in regulation. Paul hit a pair of 3-pointers to bring the Warriors within striking distance. Davenport hit two free throws with eight seconds left to make the final score 58-53.
The Mavericks will be back in action on Sunday when they head to Edwardsville, Illinois to take on SIU-E at 2 p.m. at the Vadalabene Center.
