BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Elexis Martinez scored a game-high 17 points and Caletria Curtis posted a double-double finishing with 11 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Bellevue University women's basketball team to a 72-40 victory over visiting Nebraska Christian College in the Bruins' final non-conference tilt of the season on Tuesday evening at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
With the win Bellevue evens their record at 10-10 on the season while Nebraska Christian sees their record dip to 9-9.
Bellevue was in control from the opening tip as they began the game on a 14-3 run and looked poised to take a 13-point lead after one quarter of play but a desperation heave from beyond half court by Jessica Hinde saw NCC trim the lead to 10 points, 19-9.
A basket early in the second made it 19-11 but the Bruins closed the half on a 13-5 run to take a 32-16 lead into halftime.
Nebraska Christian got no closer than 17 in the second half as the Bruins took the victory in the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
Curtis led all players with 13 rebounds, the most by any Bruin this season, as Bellevue compiled a massive 64-30 advantage on the glass. Perhaps most notably, Bellevue out-rebounded the Sentinels 22-1 on the offensive boards leading to a 20-2 edge in second chance points.
Shooting was a struggle for both teams as BU out-shot NCC by 29.0 percent to 25.0 percent for the game. Bellevue hit a little better from deep, 23.8-16.7, and from the free throw line, 79.4-64.3, where the attempted 20 more free throws than did their guests.
The Bruins forced NCC into 14 turnovers but could convert that into just five points on the offensive end.
In addition to Martinez and Curtis' production Bellevue got eight points apiece from Morgan Cuffe and Christen Voyles with Cuffe hauling in a career-high nine rebounds.
Kayla Bloodworth led NCC with 17 points, eight rebounds, and seven blocked shots. Alexis Frondarina and Aleita Amparan each scored seven and Jerrica Perez added six for the Sentinels.
BU returns to NSAA play with a home game on Friday, Jan. 12 when they host Dickinson State at 5:30 p.m. at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
