OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- Trailing by as many as 22 points, the Bellevue University women's basketball team battled back to within five points before falling, 63-53, to John Brown University Saturday afternoon at the MidAmerica Christian Classic in the Gaulke Activity Center.
The loss dropped the Bruins to 2-4 on the season. JBU improved to 2-1 overall.
Gabby Moore led Bellevue with 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field. She hit 2-of-5 3-point attempts. Kaylee Denker scored a career-high 14 points, going 6-of-9 from the field while adding six rebounds. Brandi Dunn finished with eight points and three steals.
Emily Sanders led four Golden Eagles in double figures, finishing with 19 points, five assists, three blocks, and three rebounds. Bella Irlenborn added 17 points and nine boards. Natalie Smith registered 11 points, and Tarrah Stephens chipped in 10 points. The quartet scored 57 of JBU's 63 points in the victory.
JBU scored the first seven points of the contest as BU committed four early turnovers. The Golden Eagles extended the lead to 16-4 following back-to-back 3-pointers by Emily Sanders and Natalie Smith.
The Bruins narrowed the margin to nine points at 19-10 following Denker's jumper on the elbow. A 3-point play by Denker made it 21-13 with 54 seconds left in the opening quarter. Another 3-pointer by Sanders gave JBU a 24-13 edge heading into the second quarter.
Denker scored nine first-quarter points, going 4-of-4 from the field. JBU hit 5-of-10 from long range in the opening 10 minutes of play.
Both teams went cold in the second frame as each squad endured a four-minute scoring drought. Layups by Brandi Dunn and Denker cut the deficit to single digits at 28-19 with 3:31 left before the intermission.
The Golden Eagles ended the half on a 4-0 run, all four points from Sanders, to take a 36-20 lead at the break. JBU scored 14 points off Bruin turnovers.
Denker led the Bruins in the first half with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting while adding four rebounds.
Sanders paced JBU with 11 first-half points, going 3-of-6 from long range. The Golden Eagles hit 7-of-17 from beyond the arc in the opening half.
The Golden Eagles scored the first six points of the second half, opening up a 22-point advantage.
Consecutive 3-pointers by Delaney VanBlaricon and Moore drew the Bruins to within 16 points at 47-31 with 2:46 left in the third. After Moore's jumper in the paint made it a 14-point contest, JBU used a free throw by Tarrah Stephens to make it 48-33 heading into the final frame.
After going five quarters without hitting a 3-pointer, the Bruins went 3-of-4 from beyond the arc in the third stanza.
Three-pointers by Moore and Dunn made it a seven-point contest at 53-46 with 6:47 left in the game.
A 6-0 run capped by four-straight points from Moore cut the deficit to five points at 57-52 with 2:19 remaining.
Sanders nailed six free throws in the final 39 seconds to seal the 63-53 victory for the Golden Eagles.
The Bruins will be back in action on Wednesday, Nov. 15, when they travel to Wayne, Neb., to take on Wayne State College at 7 p.m. in Rice Auditorium.
