Ubl breaks out offensively to lead Pride to 69-61 win over MidAmerica Nazarene

DUBUQUE, Iowa - A rivalry that saw the Clarke University and MidAmerica University women's basketball teams face off three times last year, including two postseason matchups, went the way of the Pride on Saturday afteroon as CU earned a 69-61 win over the Pioneers in the Kehl Center.

Clarke opened the game with one of their better offensive quarters, outscoring MNU 29-15 in the opening frame that included a 17-5 run to end the quarter over the last 5:43 of the period. The Pride shot 68.4 percent (13-19) in the quarter and would have shot over 70 percent if not for a last second half court heave from Nicole McDermott coming up shot.

There was no quit in MidAmerica Nazarene as they fought back to outscore Clarke 16-7 in the second quarter to cut the Pride lead to a 36-31 margin at the half before CU finished strong to outscore the Pioneers in the second half by three points.

"That game felt different in a good way," head coach Courtney Boyd said. "This team is starting to figure each other out and when we take care of the basketball and lock in on defense, good things happen."

That defense for the Pride came through when they needed to, limiting MNU to 44.2 percent from the field, 28.6 percent from three point range and forcing 16 turnovers to just 11 turnovers by Clarke. With the score at 63-57 with 4:23 remaining in the game, the Pioneer offense was only able to manage two free throws and a made jumper over the final stretch to remain out of reach for a comeback.

CU's offense was led by senior Tina Ubl as she scored a season-high 22 points while adding four rebounds, four assists, and three steals. The 22 points is the first time the Sciocton, Wis. native has breaken the 20-point barrier since her sophomore season of 2019-20 when she scored 20 points on Jan. 4, 2020 against none other than MidAmerica Nazarene.

Giana Michels and McDermott both added double figures in the game with the back court pair each providing 12 points as McDermott had seven rebounds, five assists, and two steals while Michels added three steals, two assists, and a rebound of her own.

Outside of the individual statistics, Boyd was pleased to see how well her team passed the ball on Saturday.

"Getting 23 assists on 28 made baskets is the best stat of the game and that's why this team is special," Boyd said.

The Pioneers had a nice combined scoring effort from Megan Scott (19), TrEl'Shawn Smith (14), and Lydia Ostenson (10) but were only able to get 18 additional points from the remainder of their roster.

Clarke women's basketball will head into next week with one more home game on their three-game stretch at the Kehl Center when they host William Penn University next Wednesday, Jan. 12 at 5:30 p.m. CT.