BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Junior guard Asha Scott recorded her first career double-double as the Bellevue University women's basketball team picked up its first conference victory of the season, overpowering Presentation College, 71-40, Friday night in North Star Athletic Association action at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
Bellevue improved to 8-11 on the season and 1-3 in the NSAA. Presentation fell to 4-11 overall and 1-2 in league play.
Scott led BU with 18 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, and three steals. She finished 8-of-13 from the field. Scott was the lone Bruin in double figures as 12 BU players scored in the victory.
Delaney VanBlaricon registered eight points and three rebounds off the bench. Elexis Martinez and Faith Ross finished with seven points apiece.
Nek Newell led the Saints with 11 points and seven rebounds. Brittiney Seymour notched a double-double with 10 points and 14 boards.
The Bruins scored the first seven points of the contest and opened up a 10-2 lead following a triple by Ross. After PC closed the gap to six points, Bellevue scored the final eight points of the first quarter capped by five straight from Scott to take a 22-8 lead after the opening 10 minutes of play.
BU shot 50 percent from the field in the opening quarter and forced nine PC turnovers.
The Bruins scored 11-straight points in a two-minute span to push the advantage to 24 points at 38-14 with five minutes left in the first half.
Seymour scored four-straight points in a 6-0 PC run as the Saints closed the gap to 18 points (38-20) at the two-minute mark.
A layup by Jurek and a free throw by Nek Newell made it 40-21 at the intermission.
Scott led BU in the opening half with 12 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Jurek added six points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field.
Kat Kriener paced the Saints with seven points and two rebounds in the first half. PC shot just 29.6 percent in the opening half and committed 14 turnovers.
The Saints drew to within 15 points following a layup by Seymour, opening the second half on a 6-2 run to make it 42-27 with 6:24 left in the third.
A deep 3-pointer by VanBlaricon made it a 20-point game at 47-27 at the 4:20 mark of the third.
After Seymour scored four-straight points to slice the lead to 16 points, the Bruins closed the third quarter on a 4-1 run to take a 53-34 lead entering the final stanza.
A steal and a layup by Newell sliced the margin to 19 points (59-40) with five minutes remaining in the contest. That was as close as the Saints would get as BU cruised to the 71-40 victory, holding PC scoreless for the remainder of the contest while closing the game on a 12-0 run.
The Bruins will host Mayville State University on Saturday (Jan. 15) at 4 p.m. in the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
