BELLEVUE, Neb. -- The Bellevue University women's basketball team fought back from a 20-point second-half deficit, pulling to within two points with a chance to win or tie on the final possession, before falling just short, 70-66, in the Bruins' first game of the Hampton Inn Bruin Classic being played Wednesday afternoon at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
Bellevue fell to 6-9 on the season with the loss. Clarke improved to 13-2 overall.
Asha Scott and Elexis Martinez poured in 18 points apiece to lead the BU offense. Scott added four assists, four rebounds, and a pair of steals. Martinez added three rebounds, three assists, two steals, and two blocked shots.
Miranda Hennings earned her first career start and finished with a career-high 13 points. She was 3-of-7 from behind the arc and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe.
Ashtyn Arnold added nine rebounds and five points in the loss.
Hannah Ambrosy led the Pride with 17 points on 3-of-5 shooting from long range. Nicole McDermott and Taylor Haase chipped in with 10 points apiece.
The Pride used a 9-1 run sparked by a deep 3-pointer from Ambrosy to take an early 18-11 lead with 2:29 left in the first quarter. BU responded with seven-straight points to tie the contest before Tina Ubl's 10-footer gave CU a 20-18 advantage after the opening 10 minutes of action.
After Scott scored four-straight points to open the second to give BU a 22-20 edge, the Pride responded with an 11-2 spurt, giving CU a 31-24 lead with four minutes left in the opening half. BU was held scoreless for four minutes during that stretch.
Clarke scored the final seven points of the half to take a 41-27 lead into the intermission.
Martinez led the Bruins in the opening half with 10 points, three assists, and a pair of rebounds.
Ambrosy paced the Pride with 11 first-half points, going 3-for-5 from long range.
After trading baskets for the first three minutes of the second half, CU used an 8-0 run to expand the Pride cushion to 20 points at 51-31 with 3:58 left in the third.
The Bruins responded with 3-pointers by Aminah Hall and Hennings and eight points from Scott in a 14-0 BU run to cut the margin to six points (53-47) heading into the final frame.
Bellevue drew to within three points following a 3-point play by Scott, making it 59-56 with 5:40 left in the contest.
After being held scoreless for over two minutes, a pair of free throws by Hennings got BU to with four points at 64-60 at the 3:30 mark.
A 3-pointer by Hennings made it a two-point contest at 66-64 at the 1:57 mark.
After a layup by Martinez got BU to within two points at 68-66, Nicole McDermott missed a layup giving BU possession of the ball with 23 seconds remaining in regulation.
A missed layup by Scott and a foul by Delaney VanBlaricon on the rebound gave Ambrosy a pair of free throws with nine ticks left on the clock. Ambrosy missed both free throws setting up one final shot for the Bruins.
Martinez and Arnold missed short jumpers and McDermott drained a pair of free throws to make the final, 70-66.
The Bruins will conclude the tournament on Thursday (Dec. 30) with a 3 p.m. contest against Mount Mercy University in the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
