OMAHA, Neb. -- Ryleigh McCartney scored a game-high 15 points and Caletria Curtis notched a double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds) to help the Bellevue University women's basketball team pull away late and earn a hard-fought 61-42 victory over Grace University on Wednesday evening at Classen Gymnasium.
The win sees Bellevue improve their overall record to 12-11 while the loss drops Grace to 6-17 on the season.
The opening half was tight, as evidenced by four ties and two lead changes. Neither team led by more than seven points and by the time the horn sounded the Bruins held a slender 22-20 lead at the intermission.
BU jumped out to an early lead as the Bruins scored the game's first seven points and it looked like a repeat of the home-opener which Bellevue won 96-40. Grace tied things up with a 7-0 run of their own as the first quarter ended tied at 9-9.
Grace looked to be the better side in the second quarter as they grabbed their first lead of the ballgame and led by as many as five points, 18-13, with 5:54 to play in the period. Bellevue closed the half strong with a 9-2 run that was capped by Curtis' put-back lay in as time expired.
The Bruins found themselves in the bonus early in the third quarter at the 5:44 mark but failed to take full advantage, hitting on just 5-of-8 attempts from the line in the period. BU closed the quarter on a 9-1 run in the last 3:25 to push their lead to eight points, 39-31, headed into the final period. Shanae Collins capped the effort with a paint jumper to beat the buzzer.
Bellevue put the game away with threes on back-to-back possessions by McCartney with 5:10 to play. The trifectas saw a nine-point BU lead swell to 15 at 50-35. That was part of 10-straight points from McCartney that put BU up 54-35 before a three from Tschida Johnson stopped the bleeding for Grace.
McCartney led BU with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting while Curtis joined her in double-figures with 12. The offense was supplemented by Cassidy Hubbs (8 points), Collins (6), Angeliece Tucker (6), Christen Voyles (6), and Taylor Cormier (5).
BU held a sizable 41-33 advantage on the boards paced by Curtis' 10. Hubbs added eight and Alexandra Bader chipped in five.
Grace was led by Darielle Evans with 12 points while Raylene Amador and Kayla Bloodworth each contributed seven. Bloodworth added a game-best 12 rebounds in the loss.
For the game, Bellevue held decisive advantages in all the hustle point categories: points in the paint (32-18), points off turnovers (31-5), second chance points (16-5), and fast break points (10-6).
Bellevue returns to action on Friday, Jan. 27 when they venture to Aberdeen, S.D. for a 5:30 p.m. North Star Athletic Association game against Presentation College.
