After Wednesday’s marathon of a basketball game, Purdue Northwest sophomore Michaela Kikendall said it wouldn’t be taking her long to fall asleep.
“Probably immediately,” the 5-foot-9 guard said with a laugh. “I might need to go jump into the ice bath after that one, too.”
Kikendall scored a career-high 29 points while fellow underclassman Shae Rhonehouse added a career-high 36, as Purdue Northwest outlasted Olivet Nazarene’s “Grinnell” system for a 131-126 victory at home in the opening round of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament.
The Grinnell is a frenetic style of basketball that features a constant full-court press, a heavy reliance on 3-point shots and full lineup changes every few minutes. The Pride (24-7) defeated it twice in the regular season, but needed overtime for a third victory on Wednesday.
“It’s a track meet.” Rhonehouse said of Olivet’s style. “I like the faster pace. You have to take care of the ball and play as a team to get the win.”
Olivet (20-11) opened the game with a 17-0 run and led 39-20 after one quarter. But Purdue Northwest started its rally in the second. Rhonehouse scoring 17 first-half points to help the Pride get within eight points by halftime.
“They were taking it to the basket and finishing,” Purdue Northwest coach Tom Megyesi said of his team’s first-half turnaround. “They weren’t doing anything fancy. They were just doing the fundamental things.”
Kikendall got rolling in the second half, as PNW took its first lead of the game at the 1:18 mark of the third quarter.
“I just moved when I didn’t have the ball,” she said. “There were a lot of times where teammates were getting trapped and we had to get open. I just went to the basket and got some buckets out of it.”
The Pride stretched their advantage to eight in the middle of the fourth quarter. But Olivet bounced back and forced overtime on a 3-pointer by Trinity Davis in the final seconds of regulation.
“They were fighting to qualify for the national tournament,” Megyesi said of Olivet. “We’d beat them twice already and it’s very difficult win three games against the same opponent.”
Kikendall added eight more points in overtime to put the game away for PNW. The points from Kikendall and Rhonehouse were crucial on a night when leading scorer Cassidy Deno was held to 18 points due to foul trouble and senior Darien Thompson fouled out in overtime with 28 points.
“Our main scorers weren’t getting their normal numbers, so it was time for some other players to step up,” Kikendall said.
After a grueling win in a game played at a frenzied pace, Megyesi said his team had earned a break.
“We’re taking tomorrow off, I can tell you that,” Megyesi said with smile. “We all need to slow it down.”
Dave Melton is a freelance writer for the Post-Tribune.
