LA CROSSE, Wis. -- In a game of runs, it was the Bellevue University women's basketball team that emerged victorious as the Bruins hung on to defeat Viterbo University 72-62 on Saturday afternoon in a North Star Athletic Association tilt inside the R.W. Beggs Senior Gymnasium.
Records:
(RV) Bellevue: 16-8 (7-2 NSAA)
Viterbo: 8-14 (1-8 NSAA)
Recap: (RV) Bellevue 72, Viterbo 62
After Viterbo made a fourth quarter charge, Shanae Collins drained a three with 4:38 to restore BU's double-figure lead, 64-54, and give the Bruins some cushion to set up the stretch run. Viterbo pulled to within five but got no closer as BU stayed at arm's length to come away with a 72-62 victory.
Viterbo worked their way ahead early on the strength of a 3-of-4 effort from deep in the opening quarter. The V-Hawks led by as many as eight points, 17-9, but BU closed the period on an 11-1 run to tie the game at 18-all after 10 minutes of play.
With an 8-2 spurt, capped by a three-point play from Jamie Winkler, to open the second quarter, BU grabbed a 26-20 lead. The Bruins took the first double-figure lead of the game on a pull-up jumper in the paint by Collins with 1:45 to go and carried a 38-28 lead into the locker room.
Elexis Martinez, buoyed by a 6-of-6 effort from the charity stripe, led BU with 10 points at the break while Collins added nine on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor.
Madessa Collins led the foul-plagued V-Hawks with 10 of her own points. Viterbo's leading scorer and rebounder, Alyssa Nilssen, was limited to just 10 minutes of action in the first half while third-leading scorer Madison Doerr played just 8 minutes as each were saddled with their third foul early in the second quarter.
The Bruins came out strong in the third, scoring the first seven points, before Viterbo countered with a 10-0 run to pull to within seven, 45-38. Shayla Dean put an end to the run by draining a trey in the corner with 2:48 to go in the period and Bellevue took a 51-43 lead into the fourth quarter.
Three different V-Hawks hit treys on consecutive offensive possessions were part of a 9-2 Viterbo run that saw the hosts cut the deficit to just four points, 56-52, before Bellevue took a timeout. Dean again answered with a three to put BU up 59-52 with 6:31 left in the ball game.
Martinez scored a game-high 13 points en route to her team-leading fifth double-double, as she piled up 10 boards on the afternoon. Collins added 12 points, including several key field goals. Laura Jurek joined that duo in double-digits with 10 points and added eight rebounds.
Dean and Morgan Cuffe each scored nine and Winkler totaled eight points and six assists on the day.
Collins led Viterbo with 11 points and hauled in five boards. Nilssen added nine points and five boards while Payton Curry chipped in nine points and Sydney Koch scored seven and grabbed six rebounds.
Up Next:
Bellevue returns home next weekend for a pair of NSAA match-ups against fellow conference frontrunners Valley City State (Friday, 5:30 p.m.) and Mayville State (Saturday, 3 p.m.) at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
