FOREST CITY, Iowa -- Junior Delaney VanBlaricon scored a career-high 24 points on eight 3-pointers to lead the Bellevue University women's basketball team to a decisive 75-43 victory at Waldorf University Friday night in North Star Athletic Association action at Hanson Fieldhouse.
With the win, the Bruins remained in a tie for the lead in the league standings at 5-1 while improving to 11-8 overall. Waldorf dropped to 4-12 on the season and 2-4 in league play.
VanBlaricon finished 8-of-13 from behind the arc while adding four rebounds and four steals in the victory. She was the only Bruin in double figures.
Faith Ross added eight points, four rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Ashtyn Arnold, Olivia Bigger, and Shelby Little all finished with six points.
Eliza McKown was the lone Warrior in double figures, finishing with 10 points. Edos Ogbemudia added nine points, and Lindsay Field chipped in with eight points and five rebounds.
Van Blaricon scored six first-quarter points, and the Bruins held WU to 17.6 percent shooting as BU grabbed a 15-12 advantage after the opening 10 minutes of play.
A trey by Van Blaricon capped a 10-2 run to open the second quarter as the Bruins extended the margin to double digits at 25-14 with 4:07 left in the first half.
The Warriors went scoreless for nearly three minutes as BU built a 31-20 halftime advantage. WU scored just seven points in the second frame, hitting 21.4 percent from the field and finishing the half at 19.4 percent.
Van Blaricon led the Bruins in the opening half with nine points on 3-of-6 shooting from behind the arc. Five Bruins scored four points in the first half, including Taylor Dement, Arnold, Laura Jurek, Bigger, and Little.
After a layup by Ross to open the second half gave BU a 13-point cushion, the Warriors battled back with four-straight points by Alyah Abrahamson to pull WU to within nine points at 33-24 at the eight-minute mark of the third quarter. The Bruins countered with an 8-1 run to push the BU advantage to 16 points (41-25) with five minutes remaining in the third.
Six-straight points by Ogbemudia pulled WU to within 11 points, but three more triples by Van Blaricon helped the Bruins gain a 54-36 lead heading into the final frame.
A 3-pointer by Jurek and a layup by Arnold to open the fourth helped BU earn a 23-point lead at 59-36 with 7:14 left in the game.
Waldorf never got closer than 18 points the remainder of the contest, and BU scored the final 11 points of the game to cruise to the 75-43 victory.
The Bruins will head to La Crosse, Wis. tomorrow (Jan. 21) for a 3 p.m. contest at Viterbo University.
