The Loper basketball teams both fell at the MIAA Tournament. The woman lost to Washburn 78-65 and the men fell to Pittsburg State 96-63.
The Lopers got down but were able to fight back.
“It was a hard fought game and when you get down by 16 in the middle of the third quarter it becomes really, really challenging,” said Drew Johnson, UNK women’s basketball coach. “So much credit goes to our players for how hard they fought; basically, had to scramble and trap for 15, 16 straight minutes to try and get ourselves back into it. We cut it to six, but you’re gassed by the end of that.”
The Loper women finish the year with a conference record of 13-6 and 20-9 overall, just missing out on the central region tournament. UNK was 8th in the rankings headed into the week.
UNK led after the first quarter 16-14, but were outscored 19-8 in the second quarter. After the second quarter the Lopers were never able to regain the lead. The Lopers struggled all night from the field, shooting 34%.
The Lopers were led by junior Jillian Aschoff with 15 points and six rebounds, while sophomore Bailee Sobczak added 15 points and five rebounds.
It meant a lot to the seniors to play and finish their careers with the Lopers.
“It’s hard to put into words,” Meg Burns said. “It was the best decision I made five years ago. There was a point last year where I didn’t know if I was going to take my fifth year. I remember sitting in the coach’s office and I had no doubt in my mind that this place is special to me that I had to.”
It was the final game in a Loper uniform for the three seniors including Samantha Moore, Burns and Kia Wilson. These three Lopers have started a combined 157 games and have scored a combined 1808 points in their careers here at UNK.
The Loper men faced Pittsburg State in the quarterfinals of the MIAA tournament. It was the second time UNK has faced the Gorillas with the last time being on Feb. 20 where the Lopers lost in a shootout 100-93.
Pittsburg State came out a lot stronger in game two against the lopers.
“”They were better on defense today,” said Marty Levinson, men’s basketball coach. “Pitt State is talented and we think they are right there with Washburn. They have a true, big center, a veteran like Taggart, Frison being so good, and are deep.”
It was a close game throughout the early parts of the first half. UNK went on an 11-0 to cut the Pittsburg State lead to 38-30. Then, Pitt responded with their own 8-0 run to lead 46-30 at the half. The Gorillas led the rest of the way.
The lopers struggled offensively shooting 34% from the field and 3-22 from the three-point line. Unlike in their first matchup where UNK shot 12-27 from three. Pittsburg State shot 56% from the field and 42% from the three-point line in the quarterfinal matchup against UNK.
Pittsburg State was led by sophomore Jordan Frison, the MIAA player of the year. He scored a career-high 39 points in the effort to take down the Lopers.
UNK was led by junior Ja’Bryant Hill with 17 points and graduate Allen Taylor adding 15 points.
It was the final game for three loper seniors including Trey Hepburn, Taylor and Chase Thompson. Those three had been at UNK for one season but have made such an impact on this UNK program.
The Lopers came together after a rough start to the season.
“Coming here was a blessing because it built character,” Taylor said. “Just to make memories. Nothing really went in our way in the first half of the season, and we easily could’ve gone bad on each other. Instead, we turned to each other and doing that was a sign of growth and another step to success.”
The Loper men went 10-9 in conference play and 12-16 overall in Levinson’s first year. The Lopers started 1-7 and fought back to make it to the MIAA tournament for the first time since 2020.
