THE RUNDOWN
WICHITA FALLS -- Micheline Mercelita delivered a monster game with 20 points and 13 rebounds Saturday afternoon at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
 
It wasn't enough, however, to overcome Midwestern State an ice-cold shooting afternoon in all three phases -- outside the arc, inside the arc or at the free throw line -- as the Mustangs fell 70-66 to Southern Nazarene.
 
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for MSU which fell to 7-3 on the season.
 
The Mustangs shot 32.8 percent from the field, connected on just two of their 15 attempts from the 3-point line and struggled mightily at the charity stripes going 22-of-45 for 48.9 percent.
 
Even with all of that, MSU nearly found a way with a flurry of a finish after falling behind 68-57 with 49 seconds to play.
 
Mercelita connected on a baseline jumper with 39 seconds to play then MSU converted consecutive SNU turnovers into point on layups by Mercelita and Jasmine Richardson to pull the Mustangs to within 68-63 with 22 seconds to play.
 
After Madeline Schropfer hit one of two free throws to push the Southern Nazarene lead back to six, senior guard Kristin Rydell banked a 3-ball in from the left wing to pull MSU to within a single possession at 69-66 with 11 seconds to go.
 
But SNU's Irene Perez hit one-of-two free throws with 11 seconds to go and MSU's Chelcie Kizart misfired on a 3-pointer in the closing seconds allowing the Crimson Storm to come away with their first road win in six tries this season.
 
Alexus Jones and Adrienne Berry scored 15 points each to pace Southern Nazarene which snapped a five-game slide to improve to 4-5 on the season.
 
NOTES
- Midwestern State limited Southern Nazarene to 28.8 percent from the floor. It's the second consecutive opponent and fourth foe this season that the Mustangs held under the 30 percent mark.
- The Mustangs connected on two 3-pointers which matches a season low. MSU shot 2-of-18 from beyond the arc earlier this season at St. Mary's.
- Senior guard Kristin Rydell accounted for both of MSU's 3-pointers. The Hutto native has hit two triples in each of her last three games going 6-of-14 from beyond the arc (42.9 percent) during that stretch.
- Senior forward Micheline Mercelita went for a career-high 20 points and snagged a season-best 13 rebounds to notch her second straight double-double and third of the campaign.
- Senior guard Whitney Taylor scored seven points and grabbed a season-high seven rebounds in 32 minutes. She held without made 3-point for the second time this season and first time since going 0-for-5 at St. Mary's (11/24) to snap a five-game run with a triple.
 
UP NEXT
Midwestern State hits the road to take on No. 2-ranked West Texas A&M on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2018 at First United Bank Center in Canyon. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.