Olathe, Kan. – The Central Methodist women's basketball team fell to MidAmerica Nazarene 61-55 Saturday afternoon in Olathe, Kan. 

The Eagles fall to 2-1, and 1-1 in conference play, while the Pioneers improve to a 2-1, and 2-0 in Heart action.

In the first quarter, the Eagles trailed the Pioneers by as many as five points, but with 10 seconds left, senior guard Michelle Nicholls hit a basket to bring the Eagles and Pioneers even at 11-11. During the second frame, Central gained the lead for the first time with 6:35 left and ultimately took a 32-26 lead into the locker room. 

The Eagles stretched their lead to as many as 11-points in the third quarter, but the Pioneers bounced back and went on a 10-0 run to tie the game at 39-39. With 5:09 left in the third, MNU regained the lead and never looked back, defeating the Eagles by a score of 61-55.

Leaianya Massenat led CMU with 16 points and added two assists, five rebounds, and four steals. R'Manie Pulling and Vanda Cuamba also hit double-digit scoring with 12 and 10 respectively. Both Pulling and Cuamba also finished with eight rebounds apiece.

As a team, the Eagles shot 34.4-percent from the field compared to 40.3-percent from the Pioneers. Trips to the charity stripe were rare for both sides, as CMU converted on four-of-five for 80-percent, while MNU converted four-of-seven for 42.9-percent.

The defense forced 25 Pioneer turnovers on 16 steals, resulting in 21 points off of turnovers for the Eagles. 

Central will be back in action at home against Benedictine College on Saturday, November 28 at 2:00 p.m. 

#TakeFlight