Matthews-Fells Scores 25 Points, Graceland Falls to Culver-Stockton 75-66
CANTON, MO - Alexis Matthews-Fells scored a season-high 25 points in the 75-66 Heart of America Athletic Conference loss to Culver-Stockton College.
Both offenses took a little bit to get started as the two team's combined for 12 points midway through the first quarter. With a minute to play in the period, Matthews-Fells scored six-straight points to put Graceland in the lead. The Yellowjackets led 16-15 after the first quarter.
A 7-2 swing changed the momentum, as Culver-Stockton College moved ahead 22-18. The Wildcat offense continued to strike pushing ahead 29-19 halfway through the period. The Yellowjackets continued to fight and in the final two minutes Christacia Dawkins, Nina Gavoli, Bre Griffin, and Emily Work all knocked down a pair of free-throws to slash the deficit to 38-35 in favor of Culver-Stockton at the break.
After halftime, Jaycee Cleaver's three-pointer tied the contest on the Yellowjacket's opening possession. For the next four minutes, CSC led by as many as five, but an 11-0 run which started five minute into the gave, gave Graceland the advantage. The run, which gave GU a seven-point lead (54-47), was capped with a free-throw by Bre Girffin with 2:19 to play in the third. The contest was tied 54-54 going into the fourth.
The fourth started out with the teams exchanging points back-and-forth. The Wildcats were able to convert on a few more shots than the Yellowjacket to build a nine-point lead with 4:41 remaining on the clock. With 3:13 to play, a pair a free-throws by Griffin brought the contest to within three (69-66). Culver-Stockon went on to score the final six points of the game to claim the Heart contest 75-66.
Head coach Frank Howell said, "We did a great job of getting a lead in the third quarter after playing from behind, but Culver-Stockton deserves credit for playing themselves back into the game with good ball movement that led to open threes as well as getting key offensive rebounds. We needed to control our foul situation a little better than what we did, but did a good job of going to the basket and drawing fouls. Our backcourt pressure was very good, but our defense will have to improve in the front court as we head into the next stretch of our season.
Culver-Stockton shot 39 percent (23-59) in the game, including 36 percent from beyond the arc (9-25). Graceland shot 32.8 (19-58) from the floor, and were limited to 19 percent (4-21) from three-points range. CSC received 41 points from the bench to GU's three. The Wildcats outrebounded the Yellowjackets 41-37.
Matthews-Fells went 9-for-15 from the floor and 5-fot-7 from the foul line to score a game-high 25 points. Matthews-Fells was just shy of a double-double with nine rebounds. Christacia Dawkins and Jaycee Cleaver added 11 points each. Cleaver completed a double-double with 11 rebounds.
Culver-Stockton was led by Carly Harper and Lacey Clarke with 14 points each. Ten other players scored in the contest, with the next highest player contributing eight points. Four players pulled down five rebounds in the game.
The women's basketball team will travel to Joplin, MO on December 30 for an exhibition contest against Missouri Southern State University. The contest is slated for 1:30 p.m.
For updates on women's basketball and all our teams, follow @GUjackets on Twitter and like us at Facebook.com/GUjackets.
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