The William Jewell women's basketball could not overcome a fast start by Rockhurst University, falling 88-63 to drop to 13-11 overall and 7-9 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play. 


HOW IT HAPPENED

• 1st Quarter: The Cardinals got two free throw early, one each from Antoinette Mussoric, Natalie Closser, and Kayla Harrell to trail 9-3 three minutes into the game. Jewell was scoreless for over four minutes before back-to-back layups by Kiara Bradley ended the drought. Mussorici hit one-of-two free throws with just under 90 seconds to play in the opening quarter but the Hawks held a 21-8 lead. 
• 2nd Quarter: The cold start continued in the second period as Rockhurst built 30 point lead with 4:09 to go in the half. A three from Bradley ended the run by the Hawks but Jewell would score just once more in the half and trail 41-13 at the break. 
• 3rd Quarter: The Cardinals start off strong, immediately cutting the lead to 23 after two jumpers by Sydney Offield but Rockhurst got a bucket and two free throws to extend their lead back to 27 with 6:57 remaining. The Hawks maintained their lead for much of the period but a traditional three-point play from Closser followed by triples by Bradley and Offield pulled the Cardinals within 19. 
• 4th Quarter: The Cardinals used a press in the second half and pulled within 16 after going on a 13-6 run, capped by an old fashioned three point play from Mussorici but that was as close as Jewell could get. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The Cardinals shot just 30 percent from the field compared to 55 percent by the Hawks. 
• Jewell forced Rockhurst into 21 turnovers, leading to 19 points. 

LEADERS OF THE FLIGHT

• Scoring: Bradley (19), Mussorici (14), Offield (12)
• Rebounding: Harrell (6)
• Assists: Mussorici (3)
• Steals: Natalie Denzer (3)

UP NEXT
The Cardinals hit the road for the final regular season weekend as they head to Missouri S&T on Thursday followed by a date with No. 1 Drury on Saturday.