SALINA, Kan. – The Neosho Panthers improved to 3-0 on the season with a pair of wins at the Brown Mackie Classic over the weekend. The Panthers opened the classic with an 86-63 win over the University Of Saint Mary Friday Evening and closed it out with an 80-51 win over Kansas Wesleyan University Saturday afternoon.
The Panthers started out slowly against Saint Mary, leading just 39-36 at the half. The Spires were able to hang around in large part thanks to 21 trips to the foul line in the half.
The second half the Panthers were much more efficient on the offensive end, shooting 59% (19-32) from the floor and 67% (4-6) from behind the three point line as they outscored the spires 47-27 in the period.
Michaela Hinton led the Panthers with 17 points while grabbing 6 rebounds.
Denise Levine and
Olivia Uhrich added 14 apiece in the win. For the second game in a row
Hailey Mayfield just missed a double-double, finishing with 8 points and a team high 11 rebounds while also dishing out 6 assists.
Saturday the Panthers would take control early against Kansas Wesleyan and led 36-22 at the half. The Panthers held the Coyotes to just 7 of 28 shooting in the half. The Panthers would push the lead out to as many as 36 points in the second half as they allowed just six made field goals and 0-9 from behind the three point line.
The Panthers forced Kansas Wesleyan into a season high 37 turnovers, but Neosho also committed a season high 28 turnovers in the win. Neosho outrebounded Kansas Wesleyan 50-37 included a 21-10 margin on the offensive end.
Hannah Jones and
Hailey Mayfield led the Panthers with 11 points each, and both just missed double-doubles. Jones finished with a game high 9 rebounds while Mayfield added 8 along with 4 assists.
The Panthers improve to 3-0 on the season with the two wins. They will be back on the floor Monday night when they travel to Sterling College for a game followed by a trip to El Dorado Tuesday night to take on Jayhawk West foe Butler Community College. The next home action for the Panthers will be November 17 when they host the University of Saint Mary at 5:30pm.
