Holm’s record-tying night sinks Flames

FREMONT, Neb. – A record-tying night from Midland University's Grace Holm was too much for College of Saint Mary to overcome on Wednesday.

The freshman from Omaha tied the Midland school record with nine 3-pointers, leading the Warriors to an easy 91-57 Great Plains Athletic Conference win over the Flames at the Wikert Event Center.

The 5-foot-8 Holm, a Douglas County West graduate, sank 9 of her 15 attempts from beyond the arc, hitting five in the first half and four more after the intermission. Holm, who now leads the nation's NAIA schools in 3-pointers made, led all scorers with 27 points.

"We could not guard the 3-point line,'' CSM Coach Natalie Miller said. "(Holm) lit us up, non-stop.''

Midland improved to 2-16 overall and 2-10 in GPAC play, while CSM dropped to 1-17 and 0-12.

CSM's offensive struggles continued, as it made just 1 of 14 (7.1%) from the field in the first quarter and 4 of 28 (14.3%) in the first half, allowing Midland to run away to a 51-23 halftime lead.

"Offensively, we didn't move well,'' Miller said. "We did a bad job of getting it to the short corner in their zone, and we didn't find our high-lows until later in the game.''

Midland built its lead to 48 with 9:00 remaining, when CSM found its best stretch of the night, closing the game on a 23-9 run. Haley Debuse, who missed the previous game to injury, scored nine of her team-high 16 points in the fourth quarter. She also blocked three shots in the game.

Freda Moore added 12 points and Mia Stewart chipped in seven, while Madelyn Gaughen led the rebounding department with seven.

CSM returns to action Saturday in Forest City, Iowa, with a 2 p.m. GPAC contest at Waldorf University.

"Looking ahead to Waldorf, we're going to be working on being more aggressive and handling the ball through pressure,'' Miller said.