MIFFLIN — Iowa–Grant junior Olivia Liddicoat joined elite company when she became just the third player in school history to score 1,000 points in her prep career.
Liddicoat scored 17 points, had 10 rebounds and passed out five assists to lead the Panthers to a 51–37 non-conference victory over visiting Belmont last Tuesday night.
In the process Liddicoat joined Mary (Bunker) Schauff, the Iowa–Grant girls’ all-time leading scorer, and Isaac Anderson, the I–G boys’ all-time leading scorer, as the only Panthers to score 1,000 points in their career.
Just a junior, Liddicoat has a legitimate chance to catch Bunker’s program record of 1,370 points sometime during her senior season. Bunker, a 1996 graduate of IGHS, scored her 1,000th point in the final game of her junior year.
Liddicoat has now scored 1,037 career points with seven games left this year after scoring a team-high 15 in Friday’s 56–41 loss to Darlington and nine more in Monday’s 58–45 loss to Potosi/Cassville.
“I am proud of Olivia’s accomplishment, not only for her but for the program,” said I–G head coach Dan Liddicoat, who is also Olivia’s father. “It’s hard to reach that milestone without a lot of commitment and time in a gym. It also does not get done without a great group of teammates for the last two-and-a-half years.”
Sophomore guard Logan Hubbard scored a game-high 25 points and a game-high 13 rebounds in last Tuesday’s victory over the winless Braves (0–10).
“Logan has been a welcome addition to the team all season and when she’s on the floor she creates a threat to get to the rim which also helps open up opportunities for her teammates,” added coach Liddicoat. “Logan also plays nice defense and puts in extra time in the gym to improve herself.”
The Panthers (5–9, 1–6 SWAL) led by just six at the break but pulled away by outscoring Belmont 25–14 in the second half.
“We played a couple different defenses and had success at times, but found some areas we can work on,” said Liddicoat. “The girls are being patient in the offense and getting
good looks at the hoop.”
In Friday’s 15-point loss to the visiting Redbirds (11–2, 6–1), Iowa–Grant tried to slow the pace. The succeeded early on and pulled within eight points in the second half, but Darlington pulled away behind a balanced scoring attack.
“We had goals going into the game to play our offense and control the tempo of the game and I believe we did a nice job with that,” said Liddicoat. “We cut it to single digits in the 2nd half but couldn’t pull any closer and a few possessions didn’t go our way and kept us from closing the gap and getting the win. We shot a lot of free throws and could have made a few more. We had 32 attempts and didn’t capitalize as much as I would like.”
The Panthers travel to Fennimore Thursday night to face the slumping Golden Eagles (3–9, 0–6 SWAL). They will then host Mineral Point (11–2, 6–1) Tuesday night.
Iowa–Grant 51, Belmont 37
(from Tuesday, Jan. 8 @ Iowa–Grant)
Belmont 23 14 — 37
Iowa–Grant 29 25 — 54
Belmont (0–10) — Abby Althaus 1, Elsie de Haan 9, Nicole Knebel 10, Callie Wiegel 3, Sadie Willborn 3, Ashley Freeman 11. Totals – 12 12-23 37.
Iowa–Grant (5–8) — Kenzie Oakes 2, Olivia Liddicoat 17, Logan Hubbard 25, Annie Spurley 7. Totals – 18 14-19 51.
3-point goals — B: 1 (Willborn 1), IG: 1 (Hubbard 1). Total fouls – B: 17, IG: 20. Fouled out – none.
Darlington 56,
Iowa–Grant 41
(from Friday, Jan. 11 @ Iowa–Grant)
Darlington 29 27 — 56
Iowa–Grant 16 25 — 41
Darlington (11–2, 6–1) — Brenna McDonald 7, Bethany McDonald 9, Marissa Gould 3, Lizzie Schwartz 2, Allison Thompson 4, Casey Glendenning 6, Kathleen Mathias 12, Reagan Crist 7, Kaylee Meyers 6. Totals – n/a 56.
Iowa–Grant (5–9, 1–6) — Kenzie Oakes 3, Olivia Liddicoat 15, Logan Hubbard 14, Annie Spurley 9. Totals – n/a 41.
3-point goals — D: n/a, IG: n/a. Total fouls – D: n/a, IG: n/a Fouled out – none.
