OMAHA, Neb. - Honoring seniors
Ellie Brecht,
Jay Bridgeman,
Alicia Mountain,
Kalen Phillips and
Romekia Wallace prior to the game, the Omaha women's basketball team sent their quintet out with a 70-61 win over Purdue Fort Wayne on Saturday at Baxter Arena.
Leaders for Omaha
Junior
Rayanna Carter led three Mavericks in double figures with 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting with three rebounds. Sophomore
Claire Killian finished with 15 points, including a 7-of-8 effort at the free throw line, four assists and a career-high six steals. Freshman
Mariah Murdie added 11 points, a career-best 18 rebounds and five blocked shots.
Leaders for Fort Wayne
Hannah Albrecht scored a game-high 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including a trio of 3-pointers. Sh'Toya Sanders and De'Jour Young each had double-doubles in the loss. Sanders scored 10 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, while Young had 10 points and 10 boards. Kierstyn Repp also scored 10 points.
Team Stats
Omaha shot 39.7 percent (25-of-38) on the day from the floor, including a 30.8 percent (4-of-13) effort at the free throw line. The Mavericks hit 80.0 percent (20-of-25) at the free throw line. UNO held a 42-37 advantage on the boards.
Fort Wayne shot 35.4 percent (23-of-65) from the field and 30.0 percent (6-for-20) from long range. The Mastodons only shot 69.2 percent (9-for13) at the charity stripe.
Inside the First Half
It was a low scoring first quarter as Omaha and Fort Wayne were tied 5-5 with 3:34 left in the period. Sophomore
Emily Petersen and freshman
Josie Filer hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Mavericks an 11-7 advantage. Young's layup at the buzzer cut Omaha's lead to 13-11 after the opening 10 minutes.
Purdue Fort Wayne took the lead early in the second quarter on a 3-pointer by Repp. Omaha tied it at 16-all less than a minute later. Another Repp trey and five points by Albrecht gave the Mastodons their largest lead of the game, 24-18. Senior
Kalen Phillips scored five straight points as the Mavericks regained the lead at 27-26. Another Young basket late in the period helped Purdue Fort Wayne take a 28-27 lead at halftime.
Inside the Second Half
Albrecht and Young continued to pace the Mastodons coming out of the break as the lead grew to 33-28 in the opening two minutes of the third quarter. Carter and Petersen hit back-to-back jumpers to cut the lead to 35-34. After a Young turnover, Carter scored in transition as Omaha went back on top 36-35. The Mavericks would not trail again. Omaha outscored Purdue Fort Wayne 12-6 to finish out the quarter and led 48-41 with 10 minutes left to play.
Albrecht scored seven straight points as the Mastodons cut the lead to 54-52 with 6:15 left in regulation. Carter, Killian and Murdie all scored as Omaha pushed its lead back to seven with under two minutes remaining. Purdue Fort Wayne got within five with 32 ticks left on the clock, but Killian hit six straight free throws to make the final 70-61.
Inside the Box Score
• The Mavericks improved to 8-18 overall and 2-11 in Summit League action, while the Mastodons are now 6-19 overall (2-11).
• Omaha snapped a four-game losing streak with Saturday's win.
• Murdie set an Omaha NCAA Division I program record with 18 rebounds.
• Carter tied a career-high with 19 points and scored in double digits for the 15th time this season.
• Bridgeman entered the game with 13 seconds left in regulation for her first appearance of the season.
Up Next
The Mavericks return to the hardwood on Saturday, Feb. 23 as Omaha faces North Dakota State in Fargo, N.D. at 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on YurView Cox Channel 1013, Midco and ESPN+. Donny Baarns will have the radio call on 1180 Zone 2 and links to live video, audio and stats will be available on OMavs.com.
