Women blitz St. Mary and KW, but fall to Threshers

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN DALE BRUBACHER & DON RATZLAFF
Led by the red-hot shooting of senior Janea Rademacher, the Tabor College women exploded for 59 points in the second half on the way to a 101-62 win over St. Mary College of Leavenworth Monday night in Hillsboro.


Rademacher scored 19 of her career-high 31 points in a wild second half when Tabor, as a team, shot a season high 59.5 percent from the field. The Jays shot 48 percent for the game.


The Bluejays took control early in the game with a 9-2 run. They continued to slowly build that lead until intermission, when the score stood at 42-31.


The second half was a nonstop offensive display for Tabor.


Rademacher was 12 of 17 from the field for the game, including five-of-six from behind the arc. She was a perfect two-for-two from the line.


Also scoring in double figures were Susan Carter with 14 and Tesha Werth with 12. Carter also had a team-high 14 rebounds while Werth led the defense with seven steals.


In all, 13 of the 14 Bluejays who saw action also scored; 12 of 14 grabbed at least one rebound.


With the win, Tabor evened its record at 4-4 in the KCAC and moved to 9-8 overall.


Bethel-A second-half comeback for the Tabor women’s basketball team was thwarted by clutch free-throw shooting by Bethel College in the Threshers 71-62 win over Tabor Saturday in North Newton.


While Tabor tried for steals and fouled to stop the clock in the closing minutes, Bethel drained 13 of 16 attempts to seal the victory. The Threshers final 15 points came at the foul line.


The Bluejays led by as many as five points on three occasions in the first half, but an Alisha Johnson free throw at the 4:25 mark put Bethel ahead 16-15 and the Threshers never relinquished the lead the rest of the game.


Bethel led 27-19 at halftime and pushed the lead to 10 early in the second half. Tabor whittled at the margin until a Tesha Werth 3-pointer brought them to within two,

45-43.


A Holly Ross basket cut the lead to three, 58-55, but Bethel connected on their next eight free throw tries.


Two Werth 3-pointers and a Janae Rademacher free throw kept the Bluejays within four, 66-62, but Tabor failed to score on its final four possessions while the Threshers iced the game at the line.


Both teams had cool shooting nights from the field. Bethel was 19 for 56 for 34 percent and Tabor was 20 for 61 for 33 percent.


A large number of the Bluejay misses, however, came from close range.


“That has plagued us all year- missing easy shots,” said Bluejay coach Chanda Rigby. Still, the shooting totals in the paint showed Rigby that Tabor was creating offense inside.


“Our inside play was a little better tonight,” she said. “But, they did a lot of little things right that we did wrong.”


Tabor’s Susan Carter gathered 16 rebounds in the game and also led the Bluejays in scoring with 14. Meghan Coe had 12 points and Werth had 11.


Bethel’s Ruth Harder, a Hillsboro High School graduate, led all scorers with 16 points, including a four-for-five effort from 3-point land.


Kansas Wesleyan-After scratching and clawing their way through most of their schedule this season, the Tabor women’s team enjoyed a relatively easy win Thursday at Kansas Wesleyan, defeating the Coyotes 75-47.


Freshman Angela Kroeker, who finished with a team-high 14 points, hit a bucket 25 seconds into the game to give the Bluejays a lead they never relinquished.


Tabor led 36-16 at the half and increased the lead to as much as 30 points, 59-29, with 8:04 to play.


The Bluejays’ won easily not so much because they were at the top of their game-shooting only 31.6 percent from the field and committing 20 turnovers-but because the Coyotes, in the words of their own media guide, are “young, inexperienced and don’t have a lot of size.”


“We didn’t look sharp at all, but I liked some of what I saw-like the unselfishness,” Rigby said. “Whatever five was in, they were playing unselfishly.”


Rigby substituted early and often. All 14 players got at least 10 minutes of playing time, each one scored and each grabbed at least one rebound.


“I think it was a good opportunity to let a lot of people shine a little bit,” Rigby said.


Coming-Tabor will take their 4-4 KCAC record against Southwestern when the Moundbuilders (5-2, 12-5) come to town Thursday Game time is 6 p.m.


On Saturday, Tabor travels to McPherson College. That game will begin at 5 p.m.

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