The Priceville Lady Bulldogs are heading back to Wallace and the Northwest Regional Tournament following their demolishing of the Curry Yellow Jackets 67-34.
The victory gives the Lady Bulldogs their first back-to-back appearance in the Northwest Regional tournament since 2010 -11.
The Lady Bulldogs got 13 points from senior Kathleen Wheeler, including nine in a row, and rolled to a 26-5 lead following the first quarter.
Priceville (24-5) was led by Wheeler’s 23 points on 11 of 12 shooting while Skyler Benson finished with a double-double with 18 points, 12 rebounds, nine steals and six assists.
“Skyler had an all-around great game on offense and defense,” said Priceville Coach Terrie Nelson.
The Yellow Jackets (17-13) had a difficult time handling the early Priceville pressure as they turned the ball over 12 times in the first quarter.
Wheeler scored 19 of her 23 points in the first half as the Lady Bulldogs built a 44-18 lead at the halftime break.
Curry was led by Allie Downs who finished with 14 points and Anna Woodley who added 6 points.
The Priceville defense held the Yellow Jackets leading scorer, Abby Moon who entered the game averaging 12.2 points and 11 rebounds, to just three points.
Priceville also got seven points and seven assists from Jenna Walker and six points from Zoey Benson. Walker’s seven assists gives her 205 for the season.
“Jenna has a knack for setting her teammates up for easy baskets,” said Nelson.
The bright spot for Curry was their three-point shooting as they hit six in the game.
The Lady Bulldogs dominated every aspect of the game as they totaled 39 rebounds, 23 assists, 20 steals and a season -high nine blocks.
Priceville will now turn their sights to Wallace and a February 18th Northwest Regional Tournament match-up with the No. 6 Rogers Lady Pirates who will enter the game with a 28-3 record.
“I am super excited to get to go back to play in the Regional Tournament,” said Nelson. “The girls have been working hard to get back to the Wallace again this year.”
Priceville entered the season with a goal of getting back to Wallace. Nelson said, “I’m thankful for how hard they have worked to achieve that goal.”
Once again, the students and community stood out in their support of the Lady Bulldogs.
“It was our last home game and the community and students did not disappoint,” Nelson said. “Our girls are very thankful for the love and support that our fans give them. I can’t thank everyone enough for watching and being a part of this with our team.”
Priceville and Rogers will play the first game of the day on Monday at 9 am.
The other half of the 4A bracket will have Danville playing Deshler. Both teams went on the road and won in hostile environments.
