The Opponent
Pittsburg State
(9-3 / 2-1 MIAA)
PSU brings a 9-3 record into the game after a 73-63 win over Missouri Southern in the Bordertown Battler. PSU was up 31-25 at halftime and finished the game shooting 51%.
The Gorillas had five players in double figures with Kami Scrivner leading the way with 19. Megan Ripperton went eight-of-10 from the free throw line.
PSU
Probable Starters
P # Name PPG
G 22 Melissa Watkins 8.3
G 30 Megan Ripperton 7.2
F 44 Kami Scrivner 17.3
F 14 Janelle Klein 13.6
F 50 Maggie Apt 8.0
Last 15 Meetings (9-6)
1996-97 W, 56-55
1997-98 W, 70-58
1997-98 L, 80-90
1998-99 W, 69-52
1998-99 L, 62-76
1999-00 W, 70-57
1999-00 L, 69-73
2000-01 W, 81-62
2000-01 W, 78-59
2001-02 L, 49-58
2001-02 L, 56-67
2002-03 W, 80-69
2002-03 W, 61-52
2003-04 W, 63-59
2003-04 L, 54-68
2004-05 Schedule
Missouri-St. Louis W, 80-61
Tarleton State W, 72-56
Columbia College L, 66-75
Eastern New Mexico W, 76-53
Ozark Christian W, 93-30
N.M. Highlands W, 78-57
CSU-Pueblo W, 82-65
Drury L, 55-69
Rockhurst W, 56-51
Central Missouri St. L, 59-63
Truman State W, 85-55
Missouri Southern W, 73-63
Last Time vs. PSU
After winning the first meeting of the 2003-04 season, SBU fell hard to PSU in Davison Field House, 68-54. SBU shot only 28% from the floor and only 23% from the three-point line. SBU was only down five at halftime, 30-25, but the Gorillas ran their lead to 11 in the first five minutes of the second half. SBU did cut the lead to eight but that is as close as they would get.
Amber Wheeler had 19 points and tied her career three-point attempts record of 14 in the game. Kami Scrivner put up 21 points for PSU.
Last Time Out
The Lady Bearcats took CMSU into overtime but could not hold onto a four-point led as the Jennies reeled off 14 straight points for the 84-74 win. It is the second time in three games that SBU has lost in overtime. For the third straight game, Jennifer Clymore has had 18 or more points as she netted 20 vs. the Jennies while Wheeler threw in 15 points.
SBU sprinted out to a 17-9 advantage but CMSU muscled their way back in and finished the half on a 17-5 run to take a four-point lead into the locker room, 36-32.
In the second half, SBU came back to retake the lead, 51-50, and from there on it was a battle to the end. Amber Wheeler tied the game at 70 with 00:19 left in the game and then CMSU missed a shot to win the game.
In OT, SBU took a quick four-point lead in the first 1:19 but then let their guard down as CMSU had 11 straight points
Leading Scorer: Jennifer Clymore (20)
Leading Rebounder: Gwyn Smith (16)
SBU Shooting %: 40.6
SBU 3-pt %: 26.1
SBU FT %: 88.9
Over 1,000
Senior Gwyn Smith now has 1,009 points as she picked up her 1,000 and 1,001 points on free throws in the first half. She is the sixth Lady Bearcat to score over 1,000 career points and now has played in 98 games.
Career Points
1. Karrie Penner 1,681 1989-93
2. Jody Mayfield 1,459 1984-88
3. Carrie Long 1,380 1999-02
4. Shari Grady 1,309 1996-00
5. Angie Matejka 1,295 1990-94
6. Gwyn Smith 1,009 2001-cr.
7. Amber Wheeler 971 2002-cr.
Closing In On Grady
With 745 career rebounds, Gwyn Smith needs just 11 rebounds to move into second place on the all-time career list for rebounds. She is just 73 rebounds away from surpassing Sheri Grady as the all-time leading rebounder. She is leading the MIAA in reobunding for the third straight year at 10.8 rebounds per game.
With her seventh double-double of the year, she now has 30 career double-doubles and has scored 10 or more points in 50 career games.
Career Rebounding
1. Shari Grady 817 1996-00
2. Paula Herd 755 1979-83
3. Gwyn Smith 745 2001-pr.
4. Dana Ozbun 682 1983-87
5. Karrie Penner 680 1989-93
Next up for 1,000 is ...
SBU is looking to have two 1,000 career point scorers in one season as Amber Wheeler needs just 29 more points to hit 1,000. She currently has 971 points and put up 15 points vs. CMSU in her best game of the 2004-05 season.
Wheeler is working her way back from surgery this summer and is improving in each game. She is averaging playing 21 minutes per game in the last five games and played the most this season vs. CMSU at 27 minutes.
As a freshman, she scored 440 points and then in her MVP year she averaged 17.0 ppg and scored 477 points.
Three-Point Land
Along with closing in on 1,000 points, Amber Wheeler needs just six three-pointers made to become the all-time leader in three-pointers made. She has made 152 three-pointers in just two and half years.
Career 3-ptrs Made
1. Allison Ramirez 157 99-01,02-03
2. Amber Wheeler 152 2002-cr.
3. Stephanie Thurman 144 1995-97
4. Kim Francis 128 1991-94
5. Trisa Fisher 112 1990-94
6. Irene Sourlatzis 90 1998-00
7. Ashley Bland 79 2001-cr.
Give Cly"more" Shots
Senior Jennifer Clymore has put a target on her back the past three games and still has made it through. She is averaging 18.6 ppg in three MIAA games. Against CMSU, she had a season-high 20 points to lead all scorers. In the previous two games, she had 18 points. Before MIAA play, she only had two double-figure games against Columbia College (13) and Ozark Christian (15).
Last year, she had double figures in her first four out of five MIAA games with 24 points vs. NWMSU.
She had her best overall game vs. CMSU as she shot 70% from the floor, made five-of-six free throws, and put out four assists. She is now shooting 41% from the floor and the three-point line.
MIAA Play
In the 11 years under Jim Middleton, SBU has never started out 0-4 in the MIAA. In the 1995-96 season, SBU started off 1-4 after after a 1-1 MIAA start. Last year, SBU was 0-2 in their first two games but bounced back to win their next two games and post a 2-2 record.
