BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Bailee Arnburg and Blair Silliman combined for 30 points to lead the Grand View University women's basketball team to a 61-43 victory over Bellevue University in the Bruins' opening game of the Fairfield Inn & Suites Holiday Classic Friday afternoon at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
The loss dropped the Bruins to 8-8 on the season. GVU improved to 7-6 overall.
Caletria Curtis led the Bruins with 18 points, six rebounds, and three steals. She was the lone BU player in double figures.
Arburg recorded 15 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals for the Vikings, while Silliam registered a similar stat line, finishing with 15 points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals and a pair of a pair of blocks.
Silliman and Arnburg combined to score the first 11 points of the game for the Vikings as GVU grabbed an early 13-4 lead in the first seven minutes of the game. The Bruins shot just 26.7 percent in the first quarter, including 0-for-6 from behind the 3-point arc as the Vikings took a 16-8 advantage after the opening quarter.
The Vikings used a seven-point scoring run to build a 14-point lead at 32-18 with 3:33 left before intermission. The two teams traded four-point runs before GVU settled for a 36-24 halftime advantage. Curtis led BU in the first half with eight points and four boards.
BU finished the first half 0-of-11 in 3-point attempts and 4-of-10 from the charity stripe. Silliman (12) and Arnburg (10) combined to score 22 of the Vikings' 36 first-half points.
The Bruins scored the first eight points of the third quarter to reduce the deficit to four points at 36-32, before the Vikings responded with six-straight points to push the advantage back to double digits. BU countered with a 5-0 spurt to get to within five points at 42-37 with 3:36 left in the third stanza. GVU, however, closed the quarter on a 5-0 run to take a 47-37 lead into the final quarter. Curtis led BU in the third with six points.
The Vikings extended the lead to 18 points on consecutive 3-pointers by Rylee Voss, the second coming with 2:49 remaining in the contest. Neither team scored again as GVU claimed the 61-43 victory.
BU shot just 29.8 percent in the loss and was 2-of-21 in 3-point attempts and 7-of-17 from the free throw line.
The Bruins will conclude the tournament on Saturday with a 2 p.m. contest against fourth-ranked College of the Ozarks.
