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Metro falls to Lopers
By Heather Embrey and Eric Lansing
hembrey@mscd.edu • lansing@mscd.edu

The No. 22-ranked women’s basketball team made a strong first-half showing Feb. 2 at the Auraria Events Center, but Nebraska-Kearney bested the team’s efforts in the second half defeating the Roadrunners 69-65.

The ’Runners set the pace of the game with contributions from a core of junior players that included Danielle Ellerington, Ashley Mickens and Megan Johnson. Metro’s leading scorer, Cassondra Bratton, also played well in the first half.

After allowing the Lopers to gain a seven-point lead nine minutes into the half, Bratton scored six points in two minutes and, with the help of Ellerington and Mickens, sprung the ’Runners back into the lead at 24-15.

Metro’s Anne-Marie Torp, who began the half with a layup, had a pair of field goals in the waning minutes as the Roadrunners ended the first half with a 39-33 lead.

Even though Metro’s defense was strong against the boards, they struggled with scoring in the second half as they dropped from 57 percent shooting in the first to finishing the game at 30 percent.

The game took a turn as Metro began having trouble due to fouls and a lack of rebounds. The Lopers’ Jonni Mildenberger took the game back for Kearney to tie the game at 61. She then scored four points off of Metro fouls to give them the final lead down the stretch.

At the following night’s game, the Roadrunners took their frustrations out on Chadron State College by jumping out to a 21-4 lead midway through the first half.

Ellerington took command of the first half by scoring the game’s first six points and got help from her teammates as four of them scored in double figures.

Head coach Dave Murphy was in better spirits after the win and pleased with the way his team played. Metro projected a lot of energy on the court in their rebound win.

“We had a great effort for 40 minutes and really played to our potential,” he said.

Metro brought a higher field goal percentage to the Chadron game, shooting 32 percent in the first half and 42 percent in the second. And thanks to Chadron’s 27 fouls, Metro gained 40 free throw shots and converted 24 of them.

With the two RMAC wins, Metro brings their record to 16-5 overall and a 9-4 record in the RMAC.