GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Davenport women's basketball team took to the court for the first time in two weeks due to the holiday season. The Panthers got off to a good start in the first half and played solid defense. Davenport led 11-7 after the first quarter and 25-22 at halftime. However, in the second half it was McKendree finding their shooting touch to the tune of 64.3 percent in the third quarter and they ran away with a 73-53 win over the Panthers to end the 2017 portion of the schedule.

HOW IT HAPPENED
-The teams were showing signs of being out of action for a while in the first quarter. The Bearcats opened the game going 0-for-10 from the floor before Sydney Diekhoff hit a triple with 2:43 left in the quarter. Despite the cold shooting, McKendree hung around as Davenport committed eight turnovers in the quarter and led 11-7.
-Davenport increased their lead to seven points at 20-13 with 5:16 left until halftime on a triple by Emily Severn. One thing that McKendree did well was getting to the free throw line throughout the contest and that helped them stay in the game during the first half.
-The Panthers built their lead to 22-13 after a basket by Jenna Falkenberg, but the Bearcats ended the half on a 9-3 run to trail by just three at 25-22. Kortney Deurloo hit a three-pointer after the game was tied at 22 with 21 seconds left until the break.
-Despite missing their first 10 shots, McKendree rallied to shoot 25-for-46 (54.3 percent) for the rest of the game. The Bearcats led the game 2-0 but did not regain the lead again until the 3:41 mark of the third quarter on a Jordan Morton layup. After that the Panthers would not get the lead back for the remainder of the game.
-McKendree increased their lead to 49-39 after the third quarter as they outscored the Panthers 15-2 in the final 4:41 of the quarter. McKendree went 9-for-14 from the floor and 9-for-12 at the free throw line in the quarter.
-Davenport could not get the lead under single-digits during the fourth quarter as the lead moved into the 20-point range with 3:12 left on the clock. McKendree shot 69.2 percent in the final 10 minutes while DU went for 30 percent (6-for-20).

INSIDE THE BOX
-Davenport shot 35.5 percent for the game going 22-for-62. The biggest difference was at the free throw line where McKendree was 19-for-24 compared to 4-for-8 by DU. Davenport made 5-for-17 beyond the arc while the Bearcats were 4-for-13. The turnover battle was critical as DU committed 26 compared to 18 for the Bearcats.
-Claire Austin scored a season-high 11 points to lead the team. She was 4-for-8 from the floor and also had four blocked shots and four rebounds.
-Taylor Smith scored 10 points off the bench on 5-for-6 shooting from the floor.
-Jenna Falkenberg recorded 12 rebounds, four points, three assists and two blocked shots in 26 minutes before foul trouble.
-Madison Hart scored a team-high 18 points for McKendree. She was 8-for-8 at the foul line and 5-for-13 from the floor.

UP NEXT
-The Panthers (4-8, 2-3 GLIAC) will be back into GLIAC play on Thursday, Jan. 4 as they travel to Lake Superior State (0-9, 0-5 GLIAC) for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.