Coyotes hand Bruins first home loss, 69-61
The Bellevue University women's basketball team suffered its first home loss of the season, falling to Kansas Wesleyan University, 69-61, in non-conference action Wednesday night at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
BELLEVUE, Neb. -- The Bellevue University women's basketball team suffered its first home loss of the season, falling to Kansas Wesleyan University, 69-61, in non-conference action Wednesday night at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
Bellevue fell to 4-2 on the season with the loss. KWU improved to 2-1 overall.
BU gave up 16 offensive rebounds and 21 turnovers that proved costly in the loss. The Coyotes had 16 more shot attempts than the Bruins, scoring 17 second-chance points, compared to just five for the Bruins.
Elexis Martinez recorded her third-straight double-double to lead the Bruins, scoring 22 points and grabbing 12 rebounds, while adding two steals and a pair of blocks.
Jerrene Richardson contributed 14 points, four rebounds, and two steals in the loss.
Amanda Hill (24), Kelcey Hinz (19), and Haleigh Bradford (19) scored 62 of the Coyotes' 69 points on the night.
The Bruins hit just 10-of-18 free throw attempts, while KWU went 9-of-11 from the charity stripe while holding a 40.7 percent to 37.1 percent advantage in shooting from the field.
The Bruins used an 11-2 first-quarter run to take a 17-13 lead after the opening 10 minutes. Martinez paced BU in the first quarter with seven points and six boards. Bradford scored the first seven points of the game for the Coyotes.
Hill hit two-straight 3-pointers to spark a 7-2 KWU run to open the second quarter as the Coyotes regained the lead at 20-19. The Bruins responded with seven-consecutive points to take a 26-20 advantage with six minutes remaining before the intermission.
The Coyotes countered with a 9-3 run to grab a 29-28 edge with just over two minutes left before the break. Both teams traded baskets as KWU took a slim 31-30 lead heading into the locker room.
Martinez paced the Bruins in the first half with 15 points and eight rebounds. Hill (12) and Bradford (10) combined for 22 points to lead the KWU offense in the opening 20 minutes. The Coyotes took advantage of 11 BU turnovers in the first half, scoring 13 points off of BU's opening-half miscues.
The two teams traded six-point runs as KWU maintained a 1-point edge at 39-38 midway through the third quarter. The Coyotes used a 7-1 scoring run to close the third as KWU took a 53-47 lead entering the final quarter.
A 3-pointer by Hinz gave the Coyotes a commanding 63-50 lead at the six-minute mark. The Bruins countered with four-straight points by Martinez to cut the lead to single digits at 63-54.
Five-straight points by Richardson sliced the margin to six points at 65-59 at the two-minute mark. That was as close as the Bruins could get as KWU scored four-straight points before a Richardson layup at the buzzer made the final, 69-61.
The Bruins will be idle until next Friday-Saturday when they participate in the College of the Ozarks Classic in Point Lookout, Mo. on Nov. 15-16. Bellevue will take on the host Bobcats at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and John Brown University at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
