THE OVERVIEW

• Result: Maranatha 68-38 Illinois Tech
• Venue: Keating Sports Center, Illinois Institute of Technology
• Attendance: 93
• Record: Sabercats are now 3-5
• Next Game for MBU: Saturday, Jan. 13 at 1 p.m. vs Bethany Lutheran

THE LEAD

CHICAGO -- The Johnson sisters gave the Sabercats twin wins this week, as Kelsey Johnson fired a career-best 22 points this afternoon in a 30-point win over Illinois Tech.

This was the second time this week that one of the Johnson girls notched a career-high to give MBU a win. With wins over North Central and IIT, the Sabercats have a 2-0 start to the new year.

THE STORY

The Sabercats announced their intentions right from the start, as they controlled the play at both ends of the court. Johnson found her rhythm from downtown, as she knocked down 3 trebles en route to 11 points. Defensively, the Sabercats forced the issue on the Scarlet Hawks, allowing just 4 shots to drop in the quarter.

MBU out-rebounded IIT 12-6 on the way to owning the first quarter, 19-8.

Maranatha relied on the bench in an evenly-matched second act. Nine of the Sabercats' 13 points came from the pine, and Trisha Wright led the sub contributions with 5 points while Johnson upped her tally to 15 in the game. Going into the halftime break, the Sabercats led 32-20.

The second half saw the Sabercats double up the Scarlet Hawks in each of the final 2 quarters, making the game a stress-free win. 

Maisy Alldredge stole the show in the second half for MBU, as she registered 14 points to co-lead all players in the second half. Alldredge finished with 16 points, which matches her own career high, which she set earlier this season at Faith Baptist. As the cherry on top, Alldredge went a perfect 8-8 from the line, which is just the 10th time in program history that someone has been perfect from the charity stripe (minimum of 7 made).

With a balanced effort up the court, the Sabercats' stingy defense limited the Scarlet Hawks to shooting just 7-30 in the second half. What's more, the Sabercats kept the Scarlet Hawks off of the scoreboard from 3-point range in the game.

After 40 minutes expired, MBU sealed the wire-to-wire win and their second victory of the new year.

THE NUMBERS

Kelsey Johnson finished with 22 points and 9 rebounds. So far this season, she has been in double figures in every game except one.

Alldredge finished the day with 16 points, matching her career high.

Bueltel logged 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists.

MBU finished the day with 18 assists as a unit.

This was just the fourth meeting between the teams. MBU has won all 4 contests.

THE OUTLOOK

The Sabercats will be back on their home floor next Saturday for a 1 p.m. tipoff vs Bethany Lutheran. Follow live at mbusabercats.com/composite.