YORK, Neb. -- A 14-0 run out of halftime, and a 27-5 third quarter, turned a comfortable 11-point BU lead into a rout as the Bellevue University women's basketball team defeated Bethany College 80-59 on Friday afternoon at the Freeman Center in the Veterans Classic, hosted by York College.
With the win Bellevue snaps a three-game skid and moves north of the .500 mark at 4-3 on the year. Bethany, however, has now lost all three of their games against NAIA opposition and falls to 2-3 overall.
The first quarter saw Bellevue start hot, grabbing a 17-6 lead by the 4:10 mark before an 11-1 run by the Swedes to close the period cut the BU lead to just one point at 18-17.
The Bruins started the second quarter off well again, scoring the first nine of the first 11 points of the period to get a slightly more comfortable eight-point lead and prompting Bethany to use a timeout. Bellevue hit a three-pointer out of the timeout to reestablish a double-figure lead at 30-19. The remainder of the half was played pretty evenly with the Bruins take a 40-29 lead into the locker room.
At the intermission Bellevue had out-shot Bethany 48.2 percent (13-27) to 28.6 percent (8-28). BU also out-shot the Swedes from deep by a comfortable 46.7 percent (7-15) to 12.5 percent (1-8) margin. The Bruins could have had an even larger halftime advantage had it not been for 13 turnovers in the first half.
Christen Voyles led a balanced BU attack at the break with eight points while Jamie Winkler and Ryleigh McCartney each added seven and Shayla Dean contributed six. Winkler also had a team-leading four rebounds in the first 20 minutes of play.
BU scored the first 14 points to begin the second half to seize command of the game for good. That run sparked the dominating quarter as the Bruins took a 67-34 lead into the final period.
Bethany picked up a moral victory, out-scoring the Bruins 25-13 in the final period as they made the final score a little more respectable.
Winkler had another terrific all-around game for the Bruins posting team-highs of 13 points and five assists while pulling down six rebounds and not missing a shot from the free throw line (6-6). Three other Bruins – Elexis Martinez (12), Voyles (12), and Taylor Cormier (11) – joined her in double figures. The 12 and 11 points for Voyles and Cormier were each a season-high.
Cassidy Hubbs led Bellevue with seven boards to go with her six points as BU held a narrow 40-39 advantage on the glass. McCartney chipped in five rebounds as she finished the game with seven points for the Bruins.
Marissa Pope led all scorers with 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds in the losing effort for the Swedes. Tehya Peters and Lauren Welsch each scored nine and Sydney Ahaneku grabbed a game-best eight rebounds.
Bellevue shot a season-best 49.1 percent from the field (28-57) and dropped in 11 three-pointers, their third game this season with at least 10 makes from distance.
BU is back in action tomorrow with a 3 p.m. tip-off against host York in the final game of the Veterans Classic.
