PERU, Neb. -- Faith Ross scored 21 points as the Bellevue University women's basketball team defeated Peru State College 57-49 in non-conference action on Monday evening at the Al Wheeler Activity Center.
Faith Ross scored eight of her game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter, Laura Jurek notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Shelby Little narrowly missed out on a double-double instead finishing with career highs of 10 points and nine boards while dishing out four assists and blocking two shots.
The win is the third-straight for the Bruins who improve to 5-4 on the year while Peru State has now dropped seven of their last eight to dip to 4-10 on the season.
Following a slow first quarter in which the teams combined to shoot below 30 percent, the host Bobcats held a slim 11-9 lead. BU lead 7-4 at the 5:48 mark but only scored one basket the remainder of the period and Maddy Duncan scored on a put-back with 27 seconds left as Peru used a 7-2 lead to take a two-point lead after one period.
Bellevue opened the second quarter with an 11-4 run to take a 20-15 lead on a basket from Jurek. With a one-possession lead, Miranda Hennings drained a corner three to put BU up six with 2:05 to play. Both teams exchanged buckets on the ensuing possessions and the Bruins took a seven-point lead, 29-22, into half with Ross hitting the first of two free throws before the break.
Ross led all scorers with 11 points at the break while Jamie Winkler recorded all six of her assists in the first half and Jurek hauled in seven boards.
Duncan and Sam Stewart combined for 17 of the Bobcats' 22 points in the half with the former accounting for nine and the latter contributing eight.
The Bruins took their largest lead off the game with 5:18 to play in the third quarter with Little scoring off a dish from Ross to go up nine. Duncan answered with a three for Peru to kick-start an 8-0 pulling the host side to within a point, 37-36 with 1:06 to play. After Kaziah Terrell scored on a post move and Bellevue got a defensive stop, Winkler drained her lone three at the 15 second mark to put BU up 42-36 entering the fourth quarter.
Little stretched the Bruin lead to eight points with a bucket at the 6:39 mark but a 4-0 mini-spurt from the Bobcats assured that Peru State would not go quietly. With a four-point lead, Little hit a wide-open Jurek streaking through the paint for a layup and a six-point Bellevue lead with under four minutes to play.
Jescenia Mosley scored off a BU turnover with 1:13 remaining to make it a two-point game, 50-48. However, Bellevue hit on 7-of-8 free throws and forced three Peru State turnovers in the final 1:02 to secure the win.
Duncan finished with 17 points to pace the Bobcats while Stewart tossed in 14. Ellie Bream collected a team-leading 10 rebounds.
Both teams struggled offensively with Bellevue shooting 29.6 percent and Peru State checking in just a touch higher at 31.7 percent. However, the Bruins won the turnover battle as BU turned the ball over just 11 times compared with 18 for the Bobcats.
The Bruins host a pair of NSAA contests this weekend, welcoming Dickinson State University and Valley City State University to the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center. Bellevue squares off with the Blue Hawks (2-5/0-1 NSAA) Friday, Jan. 8 at 5:30 p.m. before a 3 p.m. matinee affair with the Vikings (2-3/1-0 NSAA) on Saturday, Jan. 9.