BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Five Bruins scored in double figures as the Bellevue University women's basketball team earned a 71-59 victory over Peru State College in the Bruins' season-opener Tuesday night at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
The Bruins (1-0) were led by senior Elexis Martinez who registered 12 points and nine rebounds.
Peru State (0-2) was paced by Maddy Duncan's 17 points, four boards, and two assists. Lycia Peevy nearly produced a triple-double, finishing with 10 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists.
Asha Scott recorded 11 points and four boards, while Taeha Pankey, Laura Jurek, and Faith Ross all finished with 10 points. Pankey's 10 points all came from the free-throw line as she finished a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe. Jurek added seven boards while Ross collected five assists and three rebounds in the victory.
After the Bobcats scored the first four points of the contest, the Bruins rattled off nine straight points capped by a 3-pointer from Delaney VanBlaricon, giving BU an early 9-4 advantage. PSC countered with six unanswered points to regain a 10-9 lead with 2:53 left in the first quarter.
After a bucket from Martinez, Samantha Stewart nailed a 3-pointer to give the Bobcats a 13-11 lead. A pair of free throws by Kaziah Terrell tied the contest before Duncan drilled a 15-foot baseline jumper at the buzzer to give PSC a 15-13 edge at the end of the first stanza.
Martinez led all players with six first-quarter points along with two rebounds. Maria Alcantara registered five points in the opening 10 minutes of action.
After PSC built a five-point advantage, the Bruins scored seven-straight sparked by a 3-point play by VanBlaricon to take a 27-25 lead with 50 seconds remaining before intermission. A 3-pointer by Natasha Deal followed by a pair of free throws from Scott gave BU a slim 29-28 lead at halftime.
BU outshot the Bobcats 50 to 30 percent in the opening half. However, Peru took advantage of BU's 12 first-half turnovers, scoring eight points on Bruin miscues while collecting six second-chance points.
Martinez led the Bruins in the opening half with nine points and five rebounds. Scott, Ross, and VanBlaricon all contributed with six first-half points.
Duncan paced PSC in the opening 20 minutes of play with nine points, two assists, and a rebound.
After consecutive 3-pointers by Duncan and Peevy gave the Bobcats a 34-29 lead, the Bruins responded with seven-straight points to take 36-34 lead with 5:46 left in the third frame.
The two teams traded buckets until the Bruins closed the third on a 6-0 run to take a 50-42 advantage heading into the final quarter.
After consecutive buckets by Ross gave BU a 10-point cushion, PSC battled back to within seven points twice before BU used a 7-1 run to take its largest lead of the game at 63-50 at the 2:10 mark.
The Bobcats never got closer than eight points the remainder of the contest as BU cruised to the 71-59 victory.
The Bruins will travel to Seward, Neb. next Monday, Nov. 1, for a 7 p.m. contest at Concordia (Neb.) University.
