by MAHA, Neb. – It was a game with over 50 combined turnovers.
But it in the end, Briar Cliff University found a way to win the Great Plains Athletic Conference contest against the College of Saint Mary. The Chargers won 98-73 Saturday afternoon.
“Turnovers hurt us,” CSM Coach Jesse Flanagan said of the Flames’ 31 miscues. “The frustrating part is a lot were unforced errors – we were trying to make plays that weren’t there. We were trying so hard. So our decision making wasn’t good, but our effort was definitely there. And another positive is that we also forced them to have a lot of turnovers too.”
The Flames came out strong to open the game and trailed just 24-21 after the opening quarter. The game was tied 31-31 midway through the second quarter and the Chargers held just a four-point advantage at the intermission.
“I thought our intensity in the first half was excellent,” Flanagan said. “We were playing well.
“But in the second half they did a great job of mixing things up, going back-and-forth from man-to-man and zone and it kept us off balance.”
The Chargers pulled away by outscoring CSM 27-20 in the third quarter and 30-16 in the fourth.
Pilar Aldrich (Winnebago Tribe) led the Flames with 20 points, while both Justice Ross (SR/Gretna, Neb.) and Ashley Nelson (SO/LaVista, Neb.) chipped in 13 points. Ross grabbed a game-high eight rebounds and teammate Paige Muhammad (SR/Omaha, Neb.) tallied nine points.
For Briar Cliff, Kailey Burke had 20 points, while Taylor Wagner scored 16 and Morgan Hansen contributed 15.
With the loss, the Flames fall to 1-16 in the GPAC and 5-20 overall. The Chargers improve to 8-8, 14-12. CSM returns to action Wednesday at Midland University.
