March 28, 2024

Spartan women win in Houston’s return to bench

Southwestern’s women’s basketball team is on a roll for the ages.

The last time the Spartan women won three games in a row was the 2009-10 season. With Monday’s 85-67 win over North Central Missouri College, the Spartans have now won four games in a row, improving to 4-3 for the season.

“It’s a great accomplishment for the program,” said head coach Addae Houston, who returned to the bench for the first time after missing the past three games after undergoing surgery for a ruptured patella tendon.

“It’s showing that we’re building and that we’re getting where we want to go. Still a long way to go. To finally get something going in the right direction for us is a really good feeling. The fact we won these four games in a row is showing we’re moving in the right direction.”

Southwestern got out to a good start with a 21-15 lead through one quarter, before leading 40-31 at halftime.

Houston said he challenged his team to come out in the third quarter like it did in the first quarter.

The Spartans responded by outscoring North Central Missouri 27-16 in the third quarter to pull away.

“That third quarter, I really urged them to come out like we did that first quarter,” Houston said. “We were able to do just that. It really showed and it really stretched the game out. We put ourselves in a really good position to win going into that third quarter.”

Julanie Carter continued her hot streak, leading the Spartans with 23 points, including 5-of-11 shooting from behind the 3-point arc. She added four steals and three assists. Olivia Reifert just missed out on her fourth straight double-double, recording eight points and 11 rebounds.

Maleika Carter also nearly recorded a double-double with seven points and 11 assists. LaStella Slack chipped in 16 points, while Cambry Schluter came off the bench to score 14 points. Sabrina Fountain added six points with seven boards and four assists. Lexi Bronner made her return to the lineup from a concussion with four points and five rebounds.

“The biggest thing is they’re starting to buy in to what we’ve been talking about since day one and preaching since day one,” Houston said. “Doing it the right way was a little bit of motivation. You get another win and it’s kind of a trickle down effect.”

Southwestern returns to action Dec. 1 at North Central Missouri College in Trenton, Mo.

NORTH CENTRAL MISSOURI (67)

SOUTHWESTERN (85) — Julanie Carter 8-19 2-2 23, LaStella Slack 6-11 4-6 16, Cambry Schluter 5-10 1-2 14, Olivia Reifert 3-5 2-2 8, Maleika Carter 1-5 5-8 7, Khadijah Wilson 3-6 0-0 7, Sabrina Fountain 2-4 2-2 6, Lexi Bronner 1-2 2-4 4. Totals — 29-62 18-26 85. FG shooting — 29-62 (47 percent). 3-point goals — 9-20 (J. Carter 5, Schluter 3, Wilson 1). Rebounds — 32 (Reifert 11, Fountain 7, Bronner 5, J. Carter 4, Wilson 2, Slack 2). Assists — 21 (M. Carter 11, Fountain 4, J. Carter 3, Wilson 2). Steals — 9 (J. Carter 4). Blocked shots — 1 (Slack 1). Turnovers — 11. Team fouls — 17. Fouled out — none.

NCMC — 15 31 47 67

SWCC — 21 40 56 85