Bruins douse Flames, 76-62
Bellevue remained unbeaten with a 14-point road win against CSM
OMAHA, Neb. – Caletria Curtis' 22 points led three Bruins in double figures as the Bellevue University women's basketball team defeated College of Saint Mary 76-62 in non-conference action on Tuesday evening at the Lied Fitness Center.
Bellevue stays perfect to start the year, improving to 3-0 with the victory while CSM remains winless, falling to 0-3 on the year.
The game got off to a sloppy start with 10 combined turnovers in the opening quarter before Bellevue was able to start converting those miscues into points. The Bruins scored all 13 of their points off turnovers in that opening period as they raced out to a 21-9 lead.
The lead remained at 12 points in Bellevue's favor, 34-22, at the half as the teams matched scored in both the second and third period. The game progressed to the fourth with Bellevue holding a 57-45 lead.
Curtis scored her 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field and 6-of-8 effort from the line while grabbing a game-high nine rebounds and dishing out four assists. Joining Curtis in double-figures were Elexis Martinez and Ryleigh McCartney with 15 and 10 points, respectively.
BU also got strong all-around games from Taylor Cormier (7 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) and Shayla Dean (6 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals) as 10 different players found their way into the scoring column.
For the game Bellevue out-shot the Flames 44.6-37.5 percent including a solid 6-of-19 effort beyond the arc the CSM's 2-of-20 output.
The BU victory avenged a pair of losses suffered at the hands of the Flames in the Bruins debut season. The victory marked an additional milestone as it's the first time the Bruins have defeated a GPAC team.
CSM was led offensively by Miranda Acuna's 14 points while Tyler Sumpter dropped in 11 for the Flames. Corryne Millett grabbed a team-high six rebounds to go with her eight points which were matched by Lynsey Curran.
The Bruins return to play this weekend with a pair of games at the McPherson College Classic. BU takes on McPherson Friday at 6 p.m. before playing Bethel (Kan.) at noon on Saturday.