BULLDOG PREVIEW: OTTUMWA GIRLS BASKETBALL VS. MOUNT PLEASANT

Time and Place: The non-conference contest begins at approximately 7:45 p.m. tonight at Evans Middle School.

Records: Mount Pleasant is 1-1 on the season. The Panthers lost to Class 4A’s Muscatine last Tuesday 61-53. Mount Pleasant topped another 4A school in Cedar Rapids Prairie, 46-44 last Friday. Ottumwa is 0-2 after a 66-37 setback to second-ranked Ankeny and a 69-55 loss to ninth-ranked Washington.

Last meeting: Mount Pleasant topped Ottumwa 48-28 last year.

Shull shocked: Panther junior point guard Taylor Shull has been on fire through the first two games of the season for Mount Pleasant. Shull poured in 31 points and six 3-pointers in a loss versus Muscatine to start the season. She pumped in 23 points in a win over Cedar Rapids Prairie in her second game. Her 27-point average is one of the top averages in the state.

In the “Nick” of time: Ottumwa sophomore guard Kelsey Nickerson lit up the scoreboard in the second half versus Washington last week. Her 16 second-half points and three 3-pointers propelled her to 20 total points in the game. The scoring output was encouraging after Ankeny limited her to just a single point in the opener.

Coach Rupe says: “The improvement that this team has made, I’m not going to measure it right now, but I’ll tell you at the end of the season.”