Seward Undone by First-Half Struggles at No. 4 Dodge City

DODGE CITY, Kan. – The Seward County Lady Saints struggled to get much offense going in the first half of a 76-61 loss at fourth ranked Dodge City Community College on Saturday afternoon.

Seward (13-5, 8-4 KJCCC) had its three-game win streak to open the spring semester snapped while Dodge City (16-1, 11-1) has won two straight after its first loss of the season at Butler on Jan. 10th.

The Lady Saints scored just eight points in the first quarter and 11 in the second quarter, trailing 43-19 at halftime. Seward shot 7-27 (25.9%) in the first half while Dodge was 45.9% (17-37). Seward was also outrebounded 30-14 in the half.

The third quarter was Seward's as they outscored Dodge 32-21. Seward cut it to 10 with 1:07 to go in the quarter but the Conqs used a three at the buzzer to take a 13-point lead into the fourth. The Lady Saints never got closer than 13 in the fourth quarter.

Manuela Piljevic led Dodge City with 22 points and eight rebounds.

Seward was outrebounded 44-31. The Lady Saints shot 7-16 from three, Dodge City was 8-26. The Conqs shot 27-60 (45%) from the field while Seward was 20-61 (32.8%). Seward forced 15 turnovers compared to nine of their own. Both teams put in 14 free throws with Dodge shooting 14-19 (73.7%) and Seward 14-25 (56%).

Destiny Alexander, A'Neya Chambers and Kimora Fagan each finished with 12 points for Seward, Alexander pulled down seven rebounds.

The game wraps up the first round of conference play. The schedule starts over with Seward hosting Cloud County on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at The Greenhouse. Seward previously beat Cloud County 73-71 in Concordia on Nov. 19th. The Gould Foundation is the game sponsor and admission is free, no tickets required.