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BELLEVUE, Neb. -- The top-seeded Bellevue University women's basketball team used big first and third quarters en route to a convincing 82-46 victory over Presentation College in the opening round of play of the North Star Athletic Association Tournament Tuesday night at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
The Bruins (21-10) will play the winner of the No. 5 Viterbo vs. No. 4 Valley City State game which will be played at 6 p.m. tomorrow night in Valley City, N.D. The semifinal matchup will take place on Saturday, Feb. 29 at 1 p.m. at the Watertown Civic Arena in Watertown, S.D. The championship game is slated for 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 1 in Watertown. The winner advances to the NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Tournament in Sioux City, Iowa on March 11-17.
Presentation ends its season at 3-25 overall.
Elexis Martinez and Jamie Winkler each scored 13 points to lead the BU offense. Winkler added five assists, four rebounds, and three steals in the victory. Cassie Jones finished with 11 points, three boards, and three assists. Brittany Hill was the fourth Bruin in double figures, finishing with 10 points, to go along with two rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals.
Jayda Campbell recorded a double-double with a game-high 16 points and 16 rebounds. She was the lone Saint in double figures.
The Bruins raced out to a 10-2 lead forcing an early Saint timeout with 6:11 left in the first quarter. BU connected on 9-of-14 (65.3 percent) shots from the field in the opening frame, taking a commanding 28-12 lead after the first 10 minutes of play. Martinez led the Bruins in the first quarter with seven points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field.
After the Bruins took their largest lead of the first half at 22 points (36-14), PC battled back with a 7-0 run highlighted by a 3-point play from Campbell to cut the deficit to 15 points with 5:47 left before intermission. The Bruins scored five-straight before the Saints countered with a 6-0 run to end the half, trimming the BU lead to 41-27 at halftime.
Hill (8) and Martinez (7) combined for 15 points to pace the Bruin offense in the first half. Haylie Vallery led the Saints with eight points and two rebounds. Campbell added seven points and six boards in the opening 20 minutes of play.
Bellevue outshot PC, 51.9 to 38.7 percent in the first half. The Saints went 0-for-5 from behind the arc while the Bruins were 4-of-14 from deep.
Sparked by a 3-pointer from Faith Ross, a 14-3 BU run gave the Bruins a 55-32 advantage with 5:15 left in the third quarter. Bellevue extended the margin to 29 points (64-35) heading into the final stanza.
Presentation scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to pull to within 25 points, but that was as close as the Saints would get as BU cruised to the 82-46 victory, closing the game on a 12-4 run.
