Kearney, Neb. – Guard David Simental tallied a season-high 30 points and Nebraska-Kearney shot 60% from the field to beat Pittsburg State, 88-79, Thursday night at the Health & Sports Center.
Starting a four-game home-stand, the Lopers improve to 7-10 (3-8) while the Gorillas fall to 4-13 (3-8). UNK has now taken six of the last eight meetings with the Gorillas.
“We had some guys step up tonight. Obviously, David shot the ball well from the three-point line and Thomas (Connelly) came in and was a huge shot in the arm from the three-point line. He’s definitely a guy that can help us,” said UNK head coach Kevin Lofton. “(Sean) Evans got going late from the three-point line and Darrian had a good game both inside and outside of the arc. “
The Lopers led for nearly 27 minutes and by as many as 12 points. They went 29 of 48 from the floor including a season-best 15 of 21 from long range. Six different players recorded at least one made triple with Simental (Pueblo West, Colo.) and freshman reserve Tom Connelly (Denver) at four. The final team tally is just two off tying the school-record.
Pitt led 24-17 seven minutes into the action but UNK grabbed the lead back before the break and never trailed again. In addition to hot shooting, the Lopers was plus four on the glass and basically saw just three Gorillas score.
“Defensively we were not good early in the first half. They got off a lot of shots and got off to a fast start. (Better starts) is something we’re trying to be better at. We had to use some zone-action to kind of help our guys out and get them going,” said Lofton. “Thankfully, we were able to have an eight-point lead at halftime and basically hung onto that in the second half.
Simental finished 8 of 13 (5 of 7 3’s) from the field and 9 of 10 at the line. Drawing eight founds, he also had four dimes in playing all 40 minutes. This effort pushes his NCAA career point total (UNK, Colorado State-Pueblo and Montana State-Billings) to 1,023. Add in a season at Central Wyoming College and the point guard is close to the 1,500 mark (1,490). Next, Connelly tallied a season-best 12 on those four treys with fellow reserve Winston Cook (Wahoo) supplying 13 points and six boards. Finally, Nebeker (West Jordan, Utah) and Evans (Parker, Colo.) combined for 24 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. Starters Ryan Pippins (22 points, seven boards) and Bobby Arthur-Williams Jr. (21 points, six boards) paced Pitt. UNK hosts Missouri Southern State on Saturday. The Lions () fell tonight at Fort Hays, 89-71.
Kearney, Neb. – Redshirt juniors Elisa Backes and Klaire Kirsch both reached career milestones as No. 12/14 Nebraska-Kearney downed Pittsburg State, 72-58, Thursday night at the Health & Sports Center.
The Lopers (15-2, 10-1) are now in first place in the MIAA standings as Missouri Southern State shocked No. 2/3 Fort Hays State, 54-41, tonight in Kansas. UNK hosts the Tigers (15-2, 9-2) in a key game next Saturday at Buckle Court while the Lions (11-5, 8-3) visits this Saturday.
Shooting 54% from the field, its second highest mark of the winter, the Lopers beat the Gorillas (11-6, 6-5) for a third straight time. Getting three starters and Backes (Salina, Kan.) into double figures, UNK led by four after the first quarter, seven at the break and nine after 30 minutes.
Backes tallied 15 points in just 22 minutes as she made 5 of 6 shots (2 of 2 3’s) and 3 of 4 free throws. She also pulled down five defensive boards and becomes just the 27th Loper to reach 1,000 career points (1,012). “Betty Buckets” has done this mainly as a reserve as she has appeared in 104 games with 12 starts. Next, Kirsch (Rapid City) posted her fourth double double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds (nine defensive). She went 6 of 8 at the line with her career carom total at 802. She joins Heather Steffen (’04), Ginger Keller (’94) and Janelle Miratsky (’98) as the only UNK women’s players to reach 800 career boards. Kirsch, averaging close to nine boards a game, could break Steffen’s school-record (906) by the end of the year.
“Elisa and Klaire have been around awhile and reached milestones in things they do pretty well. Klaire is one of the best rebounders in the conference and was able to grab 11 of them tonight. We kind of take that for granted but a double-digit night is normal for her. Rebounding is hard to teach … I’m kind of the belief either you do it or you don’t,” said Loper head coach Carrie Eighmey. “Elisa, especially over the last couple of years, has been able to help us offensively because she’s such a threat from so many places on the floor. She’s a matchup nightmare for so many teams.”
Also for the Lopers, redshirt sophomore guard Trinity Law (Brandon, SD) logged at team-high 38 minutes and went for 15 points (2 of 3 3’s) and three fouls drawn with Iowa redshirt junior forward Maegan Holt at 12 points on 5 of 5 shooting. She’s up to 832 career points and could be next Loper to reach the 1k mark.
“It just depends on the day for our team of who is going to be able to give us an offensive boost. Tonight, Trin was able to give us a good boost, get some things going for us and be a threat from the perimeter. That really allowed us to get into the paint and get our posts some touches,” said Eighmey.
Going just 2 of 20 from behind the arc and missing seven freebies to boot, Pitt had four starters and a reserve in double digits. Each was between 10-11 points with reserve Sydney Holmes posting a double double (10 & 10).
