January 10, 2004

Women’s Basketball Wins in OT

Fort Lewis Misses Last Second Shot 

            Kearney, NE – In a match up of RMAC Division leaders, sophomore center Kalee Modlin converted an “old fashioned” three point play with just over a minute left in overtime to lift Nebraska-Kearney to a 74-73 victory at Fort Lewis Saturday night in Durango, Colo.

            The Skyhawks had a chance to win the game but a three pointer by KT Creech didn’t fall as the buzzer sounded.  

            UNK (11-2, 5-0 RMAC) has won nine straight while FLC, the top team in the West Division, falls to 10-3 and 4-1 in league play.

            With the score tied at 68, both teams had a chance to win the game in regulation. Sophomore guard Nicole Gruntorad (team-high 23 points) missed a jumper with 25 seconds left but senior Allison Kruger (11 rebounds, six points) blocked a shot by Toni Kinsey with four ticks left to keep the game tied.

            Skyhawk junior star Amy Mohr (18 points, eight rebounds) began overtime by converting a three point play. However, FLC would go only one of seven from the floor the rest of the way.

            UNK tied the contest at 71 all after two free shots by Kruger with 1:58 remaining. After a bucket by Amie Moulton, Modlin scored the game’s final points with 1:02 left on the clock. 

            Modlin had 14 of her 22 points after halftime. She also grabbed eight rebounds and has four assists. North Platte sophomore Anne Manning tallied 13 points on perfect 6 of 6 shooting from the floor while Gruntorad hit 5 of 8 threes to go 8 of 11 from the field en route to another good night offensively.

            Also for UNK, senior Heather Steffen became the 13^th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points. After three points tonight, the West Point native is at 1,002.

            UNK had 28 turnovers but won the rebounding war, 33-25, and shot 54.2 percent from the field while holding the ‘Hawks to a 39.1 effort.

            Both teams saw double digits leads vanish during the night. UNK jumped out to a 21-5 lead as Moldin and Gruntorad got off to hot starts. However, FLC out scored the Lopers 36-10 over the last 14 minutes of the first half to lead by 10, 41-31, at the break.

            The ‘Hawks held a 45-33 lead with 17:48 to go but UNK responded with an 18-6 run over the next six minutes to tie the game at 51. Neither team would lead by more than two points the rest of the way.

            UNK hosts UCCS and Western State next weekend.