Bellevue upends (RV) Jamestown, 65-59, in regular season finale

JAMESTOWN, N.D. -- Ashtyn Arnold and Gabby Moore combined for 41 points and BU rode a 22-10 third quarter to a 65-59 win over the (RV) University of Jamestown in the regular season finale for both teams.

The Bruins close the regular season with wins in three of their last four games to improve to 15-12 and 7-8 in NSAA play. BU will be the No. 4 -seed when they welcome Valley City State University to the Bellevue University Fieldhouse on Wednesday, Feb. 26 for a 7 p.m. tip-off.

Jamestown slips to 17-8 and 7-8 in NSAA play. The Jimmies will be the 3-seed and host Dickinson State in a first round game on Wednesday, Feb. 26.

Arnold poured in a game-high 23 points on 7-11 shooting and pulled down 11 rebounds to notch her team-high 10^th double-double of the season. Moore joined her in double figures with 18 points and canned four of her eight three-point attempts.

Kate Cordes led the Jimmie with 19 points while adding five rebounds and four assists, though the Bruin defense limited her to just 1-5 shooting from deep. Jessika Lofstrom joined her in double figures with 18 points to go along with six boards.

Bellevue's first-ever win over the Jimmies, coupled with Friday night's win over Dickinson State, marked the first time in over two years that the Bruins recorded road weekend road sweep in conference play.

Bellevue scored the first four points of the game and driving layups from Moore and led 6-2 before a 10-1 Jimmie run in 3:31 of game time. The Bruins stemmed the run with a bucket from Denker and retook the lead, 13-11, on a fast break layup from Zakiyyah Muhammad ahead of the first quarter buzzer.

The Bruins stretched their lead to a first half-high six points at 24-18 with a pair of free throws from Arnold at the 5:21 mark. Four-straight from the Jimmies made it a two-point game before two more mid-range jumpers from Arnold restored the lead to six but the Jimmies rattled off the final four points of the half and BU took a 28-26 lead into halftime.

Cordes tied things up at 28-all with the first basket out of the half but Bellevue knocked down four free throws on their next two possessions to take the lead for good. Moore sank a three at the 4:48 mark to give the Bruins their first double figure lead of the game. The lead swelled to 17, 48-31, on a steal and score from Taylor Dement with 2:17 to play and Bellevue took a 50-36 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Jimmies did not make it easy four BU in the fourth as the Bruin lead shrunk to seven points, 54-47 on a three-pointer from Lofstrom with 4:59 to play. Moore created separation again with a trey at the 2:13 mark to put the Bruins up 59-50 but five points in 17 seconds from Cordes saw the Jimmies trailing by just six with 1:44 to go. Dement and Arnold each sank a pair of free throws in the final 44 seconds to seal the victory.

Jamestown struggled to just 17% shooting from beyond the arc, as Bellevue's pressure defense forced a lot of rushed shots late in the shot clock. Lofstrom finished 4-9 from deep while the rest of the Jimmies combined to shoot just 2-27 from downtown.

Arnold set the tone for the Bruins at the line as Bellevue sank 18-20 shots at the charity stripe. The Bruins also out-shot Jamestown from the floor 41-30%.