Burkhardt's strong second sparks victory

February 11, 2008 —

by Adam Baudoux

Freshman forward Brittany Burkhardt scored two of her career-high 33 points in Saturday's comeback victory against Ashland, where she sparked a 17-0 run in the second half, scoring 13 points during the surge. She also grabbed 14 rebounds, another career high.

Saturday's game between the Cardinals and the Ashland Eagles was full of opposites.

The Eagles started hot, shooting 60 percent from the field in the first half. The Cardinals seemed to have no answer offensively as they only managed 25 percent of their shots from the field. The Cardinals went into the second half trailing 35-22.

"We definitely came out in the second half with more intensity," freshman forward Brittany Burkhardt said. "We realized that once the defense comes around, the offense would come. We were basically a different team on the defensive end."

Burkhardt's second half would spark a 47 point second half surge that included a 17-0 run, leading them to a 69-51 victory.

A suffocating defense - which caused 18 second half turnovers - and a career-high 33 points and 14 rebounds from Burkhardt helped the Cardinals take their first lead since midway through the first half at the 9:37 mark of the second half. It was a lead they would never relinquish as Ashland struggled mightily to make a shot the entire second half.

Ashland entered the contest as the GLIAC's second leading offense, averaging nearly 72 points per game. After their hot start, it looked as if they would surpass their season average with ease. However, the Cardinals held the Eagles to 24-percent shooting in the second half, holding them to 16 second half points.

The Cardinals made a few changes at halftime in the offensive zone as well. A high number of outside shots led to the Cards' low shooting percentage in the first half. The second half was dominated by the Cardinals' will to get the ball inside the post, especially to Burkhardt, who scored 25 of her 33 points in the second half.

"That was by design," Killmer said. "We wanted to get the ball in the middle and get our kids that score the ball."

Before the game, senior guard Kara Kinzer was honored for becoming the Cardinals career leader in three-pointers made. She added three more triples to her school record, finishing the game with nine points.

In the end, the difference maker turned out to be the effort that the Cardinals displayed as a team in the second half.

"We play better as a team when we're playing together," Kinzer said.

With the win, the Cardinals improve to 11-12 overall and 4-10 in the GLIAC. The Eagles' record drops to 14-9 overall and 7-6 in the GLIAC. The Cardinals look to pick up another win Thursday night when they travel to Houghton to take on the Michigan Tech Huskies. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.