Hounds climb to top of SEC with win over BHS

BURLINGTON –  Dayonna Davis reset her career scoring record Friday night in the Lady Hounds 49-39 win over Burlington at Johannson Gym.
The win moves the Lady Hounds into sole possession of first place in the Southeast Conference at 3-0. They are 5-2 overall after falling to Pella Monday night 46-41. Both the ladies’ losses have come by a combined eight points.
Davis had just eight points at the half and then got free in transition for most of the second half and was able to score on short jumpers and drives to the basket.
“She just got hot,” said head coach Landon Bentley. “She found her rhythm and then found her range.”
Fort Madison was just four-of-16 shooting in the first half and trailed by five at the break. But the Hounds held Burlington's Mylee Stiefel, who’s averaging just under 18 points per outing, to just seven in the first half as Hadley Wolfe chased the conference MVP candidate all over the place. Stiefel would score 11 in the second half to catch her average, but four came in the final minute from the free throw line with the game out of reach.
Wolfe, who’s averaging 13 points, felt the effects of her defensive focus on Stiefel going 0-8 shooting from the field until the fourth quarter, but then dialed in.
The junior hit a bucket midway through the fourth from about 15 feet off the left wing to give Fort Madison a four-point advantage 36-32. After a Davis 3-ball from deep off the left side with 2:13 left gave the Hounds a 41-32 lead, Burlington sophomore Kylee Hill hit inside and was fouled. She missed the bonus leaving a 7-point FM lead.
Two quick fouls on the Hounds forced Bentley to call a time out to regroup. Out of the time out, Wolfe picked Stiefel’s pocket on the Grayhound side of the court and raced to the other end for a bucket in transition to push the lead to nine with 1:35 left.
Burlington wouldn’t score from the field again, but Stiefel hit two of three free throws after getting bumped on the way down from a 3-point attempt at the top of the key. Wolfe and Davis would convert four free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
The Bloodhounds’ cool shooting in the first half told the story going into the locker room. Davis and junior Halle Menke had the only field goals of the second quarter, and Reilynn Turnbull added a free throw as Burlington outscored Fort Madison 12-6 in the frame. Fort Madison missed their last five shots going into the break.
“We were good and there was no panic,” Davis said. “We knew we wanted it so we just kept fighting and working together and relying on each other.
Bentley said Burlington did a good job keeping the Lady Hounds out of sync in the first half.

“Honestly, Burlington did a great job defensively in the first half. So we talked about being better offensively and mixing things up a bit. They’re a great team. I thought we had a good first half, really. Our effort was there we just needed shots to start falling,” he said.
“We had a couple players with some off nights and we still pulled through it. That started with our rebounding and an unsung hero there is Halle Menke. She was boxing out and doing things the right way. That’s huge for us.”
Bentley was referring to Kylee Hill, the Grayhounds’ sophomore post player who’s averaging more than 10 boards a game. He also had praise for Wolfe’s handling of Stiefel.
“She face-guarded a candidate for conference player of the year and she did that all night with a short break. Her legs weren’t under her the whole night, but I’m just so proud of her and the way she controls our pace and leads our team.”
Bentley said the win is nice heading into the break, but then cautioned the Hounds still had a lot of work to do.
“This is a great win. We have to stay even keeled. The jobs not finished by any means and we’ve got a really tough conference that will have close games night in and night out.”
Wolfe, who finished with eight points, seven assists and four steals, said she wasn’t worried about the poor early shooting.
“I just had to keep playing and try to get some scores to help us to the ‘W’,” Wolfe said. "Stiefel’s a great player. You can’t really stop her, you just try to slow her down so that’s what we were doing.
"I feel like at times we were getting in her head, but other times we weren’t. We were just going to face-guard her and contest all her shots. It means a lot that he trusts me and he wants me to do those things, so I’ll do it.
Menke also had eight points in the win.
The Hounds are off until Jan. 3 when they travel to Washington for another Southeast Conference matchup.