BOLIVAR, MO -- The SBU Lady ‘Cats used some good passing, and some good defense, to defeat Fort Hays State, 71-54.

Cortney Shewmaker was a perfect 8 out of 8 from the foul line.

It was an important MIAA win, according to Coach Jim Middleton.

“This was a must-win game for us. The girls saw the need, and responded. We were up 29-17 in the first half, but relaxed a little and let them back to within 7 of us.”

Cortney Shewmaker led SBU’s scoring with 14, and hit 8-8 from the line.

Coach Middleton believed that SBU’s success came, at least in part, because the Lady ‘Cats hit some big thee-pointers at the key times in the game.

“There were three 3-pointers, in particular, that spurred us on. Bybee hit 2 and Graves hit 1. We hit our three-points shots and did a good job of contesting their 3-pointers. We also went into a full court press that caused them some issues. We forced turnovers, anticipated, and stole some passes.”

Traci Bybee hit three from long range and finished with 12 points.

SBU shot 44.4% from the field tonight and 88.2% from the free-throw line.

Coach Middleton offered some thoughts about the remaining games in the season.

“The biggest game right now for us is Pittsburg State on Saturday. We’ve beaten them once, but we’ve got to take care of the head-to-head tie breakers. That way, we aren’t relying on other teams to do our work for us. The girls have confidence heading to Pittsburg. We are good enough to go to Kansas City, even if our record doesn’t show it. We are young, but we’re better than last year.”

With tonight’s win, the Lady ‘Cats move to 13-11 on the year, and 5-10 in the MIAA. Their next game is at Pittsburg State on February 17.

Final Stats