HILLSBORO, Kan. — The Bluejays are on a winning streak and are hoping to continue to roll on. The ladies took on Bethel College for the first round of the KCAC Women's Championship Tournament. With this win, the Bluejays move on to host the semifinal round against Kansas Wesleyan University.
"It was great to earn a victory in this first KCAC game! The past two seasons we have lost the quarterfinal game at home and it was good to get that monkey off our back! I was proud of our team for our effort on the defensive end of the floor. Bethel is a much-improved team and Coach Lamar has done a fantastic job coaching them," Head Coach Shawn Reed said.
The starting five for the first round of playoffs included senior Ja'Neysha Hendricks, juniors Teegan Werth and Kassidy Beam, and seniors Madie McCoy and Alyvia Owens.
It took both teams a few minutes to score in the first quarter. The Bluejays finally got going after a few steals and getting open looks, 17-8.
"Our defensive effort in the first half was very sound. I think we forced at least two shot clock violations and got three stops in a row multiple times. We did a good job of guarding the ball and moving in and out of help. We didn't rebound well at times and we let Richards get going but other than that I thought we played well," voiced Reed.
"Offensively, I felt we did some really good things and got quality looks especially inside. We didn't shoot great from the three-point line but I liked the majority of the shots we took. I thought we moved the ball well and attacked the rim. We got to the free-throw line but we didn't really take advantage of those opportunities," continued Coach.
The second quarter looked a little more chaotic for both teams. Bethel scored more than the first quarter to cut Tabor's lead to 36-20.
The third quarter started hot for the Bluejays draining a three of the get-go. As the quarter went on the game got more intense, 53-30. Reed explained, "It was good to lead by 16 at halftime but I felt there were still things we could do better. I was pleased with our effort in the third quarter. I thought we did some great things offensively which led to us shooting 60% from the floor. Defensively that was our best quarter and we held Bethel to 27% from the floor and 20% from the 3-point line."
The Bluejays slowed the game down in the fourth quarter and took down the number eight seed, Bethel College. "The fourth quarter got a little sloppy for both teams but ultimately I was happy that our defense was sound and helped us secure a 67-39 victory," stated Coach.
Reed said, "Our bench was huge again for us tonight. The bench outscored Bethel 36 to 12 and I thought Kloe, Brooke, Lillie, Miyah and Alicia all did some really good things. Teegan played a great game for us at both ends of the court. It was nice to see her catch fire from behind the three-point line. She has been our best on ball defender all season but we know she can really shoot the ball as well. I was very proud of her efforts at both ends of the court."
"We will host Kansas Wesleyan here on Saturday afternoon in the semifinals. Coach Showman always has his team ready to play and they have a very talented group that can score points in bunches. We will have to play very well if we hope to win. I hope people will come out and support our team in our final home game of the season," expressed Coach Reed!
The Bluejays move on to the semifinals to host Kansas Wesleyan University on Saturday, March 2nd at 2:00 p.m. in the Tabor Gym.
Make sure to purchase your tickets at KCAC Tickets.
If fans would like extra help with how to purchase tickets, there will be a table set up in the Fine Arts Center from 10 a.m. to noon on Friday, March 1st.
Be sure to stay updated with all information regarding Bluejay Athletics by following us on X at @gotaborbluejays, on Instagram and Facebook @taborbluejays, and our official athletic website, taborbluejays.com.
Tabor College is a Christ-centered institution located in Hillsboro, Kansas. The Bluejays are members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and compete in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC).
