Kansas Wesleyan women edge Oklahoma Wesleyan, OKWU men rout KWU: 4 takeaways from the doubleheader

The Kansas Wesleyan basketball teams split their doubleheader with Oklahoma Wesleyan on Wednesday night at Mabee Arena.

The Coyote women needed a defensive stand on the final possession to beat the Eagles, 53-51. Meanwhile, a 21-0 run to start the second half helped the OKWU men knock off KWU, 85-56.

The Wesleyan women won their third straight to improve to 14-6 overall, 10-5 in Kansas Conference, while OKWU dropped to 10-11, 8-7.

OKWU's men, ranked No. 5 in the nation, improved to 20-1, 14-1, while KWU fell to 14-6, 9-6.

Amanda Hill led the Coyote women with 16 points, with Kelcey Hinz recording a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds. OKWU was led by Zariah Tillman's 10 points.

In the men's game, Tyus Jeffries had 13 in the loss for KWU, while OKWU was led by Brandon Bird's 17.

Here are four takeaways from Wednesday's doubleheader.

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Kansas Wesleyan women hold Oklahoma Wesleyan below season average

Oklahoma Wesleyan averages just over 61 points per game. The Eagles are also known for shooting the 3-pointer. The Coyotes held the Eagles below their season averages in both categories.

"To hold a team like this to 33% shooting and 28% from the 3-point line and 51 total points, credit to those on the team, and their locked-in mindset defensively," KWU coach Ryan Showman said.

Wednesday's game was defensive and low scoring with OKWU holding an 11-8 lead after the first quarter and up 27-24 at halftime. The Coyotes took a 44-34 advantage into the fourth before seeing their lead cut to 52-51 with 21.3 seconds left.

One stop makes a difference

After Hinz went 1 of 2 at the free-throw line to increase KWU's lead to 53-51 with 14.4 seconds on the clock, OKWU was in position to take the lead with a 3-pointer.

However, a 3-point attempt by Antonia Porter was off line and Hinz grabbed the rebound before it was tipped and stayed inbounds to run out the clock.

"I knew (if I) just grabbed the ball, stay in bounds and let the clock run out," Hinz said. "It's big and it just kind of shows how far we've come since that first game against them and how much we wanted it in the end. We showed we wanted it a little bit more than they did."

Showman said he wasn't sure if the game was over.

"I'm like, 'Get back (on defense),' and then we won the game," Showman said. "I said, 'The refs are going.' I'm like, 'We did it.' We finished it up."

"That reaction was a relief. That's what wins are at this point in the season. You pour so much into a game plan (and) into getting your team ready, and when that final buzzer ticks, you've got more points, it's really (great)."

Showman said his team needed to make a play at the right time. OKWU called a second timeout to see what KWU was in and adjust what it wanted to do on the final possession.

"They knew we were going to be in man (defense)," Showman said. "They had a play drawn up and it was, 'OK, it's us against you.' It had nothing to do with coaches, fans (or) with anybody but those five girls on defense and they stepped up. They were the better group and they won that possession and ultimately won the game."

Oklahoma Wesleyan men go on 21-0 run to start the second half

The first half looked like it was going to be a competitive game between the Coyotes and Eagles. KWU led by as many as 11 points before OKWU took the lead. The game was tied at 32 before the Eagles closed the half on a six-point run to lead 38-32 at the break.

After that, the Eagles played like the fifth-ranked team in the nation, scoring the first 21 points of the second half and never looking back.

"We knew we had to do certain things right to win the game," KWU coach Anthony Monson said. "In the second half, we came out flat and they came out with a lot of energy. They ran us out of the gym."

Monson credited OKWU's patience and teamwork on offense.

"They don't force the issue with anything," Monson said. "They got us moving and got us shifted and we weren't able to keep up and then we weren't able to move the ball on our end."

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Monson returns to the sideline

After missing the previous two games with an illness, Monson returned to the sideline Wednesday night.

Even though the Coyotes fell by 29 after leading 12-2 at the start, he said he was glad to be back with the team. Now the Coyotes have to put this loss behind them.

"Sometimes you've just got to say, 'You know, throw this one in the garbage and don't have time to dwell because we've got to go play a good Ottawa team on the road,'" Monson said.

What's next for Kansas Wesleyan

The Coyotes will travel to Ottawa on Saturday for a doubleheader. The women's game is set for 5 p.m. with the men to follow at 7.

The KWU women needed double overtime to defeat the Braves on Nov. 27, 73-68, while the Coyote men beat Ottawa, 83-81.

Dylan Sherwood has been a sports reporter for the Salina Journal since August 2019. He can be reached at dsherwood@salina.com or on Twitter @DSherwoodSJ

This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: Kansas Wesleyan basketball teams split Oklahoma Wesleyan doubleheader