Lady Saints Finish Regular Season with Blowout Win

GARDEN CITY, Kan. – The No. 10 Seward County women’s basketball team ended the regular season with a blowout win against rival Garden City, 75-53 in Garden City. In the win, Mollie Mounsey tied Seward County Hall of Famer Kim Ortega for third place on the all-time scoring list.

It was a much closer game early on for Seward (27-3, 23-3) as they traded points with the Broncbusters through the first five minutes of the first quarter. A 6-0 run helped extend the Lady Saints lead to 16-10, but Garden used the final three minutes to cut the lead to three as the Lady Saints took an 18-15 lead into the second quarter.

Seward blew the game open to start the second quarter, as Valerie Caro put the Lady Saints up 10 with a three. Though the scoring wasn’t constant, it was efficient as the Seward extended their lead to twenty over the final seven minutes of the quarter. Mounsey connected on a three-pointer to at the buzzer to put the Saints up 45-25 at the half.

The Lady Saints continued to extend their lead in the third quarter. At the 3:32 mark, Mounsey stole the ball from Dejanie Graves and hit a layup to tie Ortega for third place on the all-time scoring list. Moments later, Vilma Covane put the Saints up 30 with a layup, putting the score at 62-32.

Covane pushed the Seward lead up to 35 points to start the fourth quarter, the largest lead of the night. However, the Broncbusters used the remainder of the quarter to cut the lead to just 20 points, but it was too little too late, as Seward still won the game, 75-53.

The Lady Saints shot 53.1 percent (26 of 49) from the floor and 52.6 percent (10 of 19) from deep. Seward held the Broncbusters to 31.3 percent (21 of 67) from the field and 21.4 percent (3 of 14) from behind the arc.

Three Lady Saints scored in double figures, with Mounsey leading the way with 20 points, her third straight 20-point performance. Caro (11 pts) and Covane (10 pts) also both reached double digit points.

Seward has earned the number one seed in the Region VI Tournament, giving them a first-round bye. They will face the winner of the Barton vs Coffeyville game on Monday (March 5) at 1:00 p.m. at Hartman Arena in Park City, Kansas.

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Ian Applegate