Women’s Basketball Places Third in Conference Tourney

MOBERLY, Missouri—A season that saw its ups and downs finished on a high note for the Faith Eagles women's basketball team with a third place finish at the MCC Conference Tournament, February 17-19.

The Eagles found their winning groove with an opening-round win over Manhattan Christian College, 83-72. It was the highest scoring game of the season for Faith, who lost the previous two matches to Manhattan by a combined total of 15 points. The trio of Rachel Kleczka, Makenna Laib, and Mary Yarnell turned into an unstoppable force for Faith. Kleczka's 23 points and 22 rebounds equaled one of the best individual performances of the year for the Eagles. Laib's 23 points and Yarnell's 16 points on 7-of-7 shooting were just as critical. Following a 60-60 tie with 6:58 remaining, the Eagles ended the game on a 23-12 run.

A win in the first round meant a semifinal match against the number one seed Ozark Christian College, who showed why they were the number one seed with a 101-58 victory over the Eagles, sending Faith into the consolation game on Saturday against Calvary University.

In the consolation match, Faith overcame 23 turnovers with a strong effort on the glass, outrebounding the Warriors, 50-26. After leading by just one point at halftime, the Eagles stretched the lead to 15 with 3 minutes to play in the fourth quarter, cruising to a third place finish and their second win in three days.

The Eagles were the recipients of a pair of great awards over the weekend as Rachel Kleczka was named Second Team All-Conference and the women's team was given the Sportsmanship Award. Kleczka led the team in both scoring and rebounding this season, averaging 14.5 points and 14.1 rebounds per game.  

Faith finished with a record of 6-15, which was not enough to qualify for the regional tournaments, but winning two of its final three games gives the team some great momentum into the offseason with no seniors on the roster.