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Take away the first five or six minutes of each half, and the Bethel College women’s basketball team owned the 22nd-ranked (NAIA Division II) Friends Falcons.
It was start of both halves where Friends dominated, holding on for a 71-70 win Saturday in KCAC play in Wichita.
Bethel was hurt by 30 turnovers.
“That’s a top 20 team in the nation and the top team in the conference, and we took them down to the wire both times,” Bethel coach Mark Fox said. “We had realistic chances to win both games. We had two keys, and we failed on 1 1/2 of them. One was ball security, and you’re not going to beat anybody with 30 turnovers. The other was stopping (Abby) Fawcett and (Abril) Marshall. We did a great job against Fawcett. Marshall did whatever she wanted in the post.”
Jessika Crews led Friends, 18-8 overall and 12-2 in the KCAC, with 22 points. Marshall scored 17 and Sarah Munds added 17.
Bethel was led by Chelsea Harris, who posted a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Reserve guard Spencer Suderman scored 12 points, hitting four of seven 3-pointers. Jessica Muckenthaler scored 11 points.
“That’s what (Suderman) can do,” Fox said. “Despite our statistics, we have good shooters. Sometimes, they are getting in their own way too much. She hit that first one, and that knocked the lid off the basket. We started to relax and knock down our shots. Sometimes, she just needs to stop thinking about it and shoot it.”
Four early turnovers allowed Friends to take a 6-0 lead in the firs t 2 1/2 minutes of play. Bethel trailed by as many as 10 early. A Jordyn Blanson 3-point play got Bethel within four, 22-18, midway in the first half. Jessica Muckenthaler hit two free throws with 4:52 remaining in the first half.
Bethel led by as many as five late in the first half. Friends got back within one at the half, 37-36.
Bethel was 12 of 13 from the line in the first half. Friends was five of nine.
Bethel turnovers spaked a 12-2 run to start the second half. The Threshers again worked themselves back into the game. A Payton Walker trey with 5:14 in regulation got the Threshers within one, 59-58. A Brandi Florian putback with 4:03 in regulation tied the game 61-61.
After one of two Friends free throws, Harris hit a four-foot jumper to give Bethel the lead. Marshall hit two free throws, followed by a Crews jumper and two more Marshall free throws to put Friends back up by five.
Take away the first five or six minutes of each half, and the Bethel College women’s basketball team owned the 22nd-ranked (NAIA Division II) Friends Falcons.
It was start of both halves where Friends dominated, holding on for a 71-70 win Saturday in KCAC play in Wichita.
Bethel was hurt by 30 turnovers.
“That’s a top 20 team in the nation and the top team in the conference, and we took them down to the wire both times,” Bethel coach Mark Fox said. “We had realistic chances to win both games. We had two keys, and we failed on 1 1/2 of them. One was ball security, and you’re not going to beat anybody with 30 turnovers. The other was stopping (Abby) Fawcett and (Abril) Marshall. We did a great job against Fawcett. Marshall did whatever she wanted in the post.”
Jessika Crews led Friends, 18-8 overall and 12-2 in the KCAC, with 22 points. Marshall scored 17 and Sarah Munds added 17.
Bethel was led by Chelsea Harris, who posted a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Reserve guard Spencer Suderman scored 12 points, hitting four of seven 3-pointers. Jessica Muckenthaler scored 11 points.
“That’s what (Suderman) can do,” Fox said. “Despite our statistics, we have good shooters. Sometimes, they are getting in their own way too much. She hit that first one, and that knocked the lid off the basket. We started to relax and knock down our shots. Sometimes, she just needs to stop thinking about it and shoot it.”
Four early turnovers allowed Friends to take a 6-0 lead in the firs t 2 1/2 minutes of play. Bethel trailed by as many as 10 early. A Jordyn Blanson 3-point play got Bethel within four, 22-18, midway in the first half. Jessica Muckenthaler hit two free throws with 4:52 remaining in the first half.
Bethel led by as many as five late in the first half. Friends got back within one at the half, 37-36.
Bethel was 12 of 13 from the line in the first half. Friends was five of nine.
Bethel turnovers spaked a 12-2 run to start the second half. The Threshers again worked themselves back into the game. A Payton Walker trey with 5:14 in regulation got the Threshers within one, 59-58. A Brandi Florian putback with 4:03 in regulation tied the game 61-61.
After one of two Friends free throws, Harris hit a four-foot jumper to give Bethel the lead. Marshall hit two free throws, followed by a Crews jumper and two more Marshall free throws to put Friends back up by five.
A Suderman trey with 49.2 seconds in regulation got Bethel within two, 70-68. Friends missed a shot on the other end, but got the rebound with 25.6 seconds left and the shot clock turned off.
Fawcette hit one of two free throws with 15 seconds in regulation. Brieanna Zerger hit two free throws for Bethel 6.1 seconds later. Friends was able to run out the clock.
“You don’t want to use the excuse of youthfulness, but when you have a chance to not only take a lead, but extend a lead, that’s when you need your leaders to settle you down. We were up one in the second half. We tried to run a set against Marshall, who had four fouls, and we threw the ball away.”
Bethel, 9-12 overall and 5-9 in KCAC play, hosts Tabor at 6 p.m. Thursday.
“They were a battle the first time,” Fox said. “It’s a rivalry game. I don’t care if both teams are ‘0-fers’ or undefeated, it’s going to be a battle. We have to be ready to play.”
