Story by: Kennedy Rater, KWU Sports Information Intern

The Kansas Wesleyan women’s basketball team played its home opener on Saturday against the No. 9 ranked Central Methodist Eagles

The Coyotes started cold from the field to start the game with only making two field goals in the first quarter. They finished the game on 23 of 60 from the field. However, they hung on early with their strong free throw shooting, as they made nine in the first quarter. They finished the first half 13 of 18 from the stripe which put them at 72 percent, for the game they were 16 of 24. The Coyotes had four players scoring double digits with LaMyah Ricks (JR/Shawnee Mission, Kan.) and Angel Lee (SO/Grandview, Mo.) both scoring 13.

On the other hand, Central Methodist University dominated the whole way through. The Eagles were never behind in the game. They were led by Leah Johnson and Leianya Massenat. Johnson filled up the stat sheet with 24 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Massenat was sharp from the field all game as she scored 21 by making 8 of her 13 attempts from the field. The Eagles were strong from the field as a whole, shooting 56 percent for the game. They outrebounded the Coyotes 43-26 and had 19 assists to the Coyotes’ 11. The Eagles won the game 96-70 with their largest lead being 34.

When asked about what the difference maker in the game was, Coach Showman responded with, “You know I thought it was turnovers early. I think they got us sped up and we didn’t adjust to it as quickly as we needed to. I thought it took us about all of that first quarter to get adjusted to their speed and then when we finally did and settled in, we got some good looks, but you have to finish. They’re a really good team, they hit open shots, and they took advantage of our breakdowns, so we have to be more consistent in order to finish plays at a higher level against teams like this.”

This loss drops the Coyotes to 0-3 with two of their losses coming from Columbia College which is receiving votes in the top 25 poll and the other being University of Health Science and Pharmacy.

Although the game resulted in a loss, Coach Showman still pulled some positive things out of the game.

“I thought when we adjusted to the speed of the game, we took care of the ball and had some really good offensive possessions,” he said. “We didn’t always finish every one of them so that’s kind of that next step, but I thought for the most part when we executed, we got what we wanted. Their length bothered us, and their speed bothered us a little bit but when we got settled into the half court, I thought there were some good possessions.”

The Coyotes will look to bounce back at Missouri Valley College on November 12.