Loper women improve to 6-0 with 74-65 win over Chadron State
KEARNEY — The competition was tougher. The play was sloppier. But University of Nebraska at Kearney women's basketball coach Drew Johnson could live with it.
"We will never apologize for winning. We will take the win and get out of here and we'll learn from it," Johnson said after the Lopers beat Chadron State 75-65 Saturday afternoon at the UNK Health and Sports Center. "It's always better to learn from a win."
After three victories by an average margin of 95-32, the Lopers saw the Eagles hang around. Chadron State (2-2) never led, falling behind 24-9 early in the second quarter. But with three minutes left in the game, the Eagles were within four.
A steal by UNK's Trinity Law that she turned into a layup with 2:20 remaining, essentially sealed the undefeated Lopers' sixth victory.
"I thought that was a good wake-up call for us," Johnson said.
The Lopers shot 52% from the floor, but made just 1 of 8 3-pointers and missed 10 free throws.
"We've got a lot of work to do and we've got a lot of things we've got to continue to hone in on," Johnson said. "We made some just lack-of-discipline mistakes tonight which was a little frustrating.
"We've been a more disciplined team than that so far this season."
Six-foot-3 post player Awoti Akoi came off the bench to score 12 points for the Eagles, who also got 15 points from Ashayla Powers and 10 from Olivia Waufle.
The Lopers haven't faced a player as tall as Akoi and Johnson said he and his staff will have to evaluate they post defense game plan.
"We're not going to be able to allow 6-3 post players to catch in the middle of the paint and turn to their left shoulder ... and shoot jump hooks in the paint," he said.
UNK got to the basket, too, with Shiloh McCool scoring 21 points and collecting 10 rebounds. Post players Kila Wilson and Bailee Sobczak added 12 points each and Law finished with 10.
"I thought Shiloh really, really executed," Johnson said. "You have a couple more of those layups go in and you're looking at a 30-point night for her.
"We need her to carry us. She's been our most consistent offensive player over the course of her career."
Saturday's game wraps up UNK's non-conference schedule. The Lopers will play their MIAA opener at Rogers State on Thursday, then play at Northeastern State on Saturday.
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