Kearney, Neb. – The Southwest Baptist University women's basketball team fell on the road at Nebraska-Kearney on Thursday evening 64-52. With the loss, SBU drops to 12-9 (7-8 MIAA) on the season.
Scoring would be limited for both squads in the first quarter, as the Bearcats were the first to score off of a Mackenzie Skupa layup nearly two and a half minutes into the contest. SBU extended their lead off of a pair of free throws by Caylee Richardson and a jumper from Richardson to take the early 6-0 lead with 5:10 left in the first quarter. UNK would come back to tie the game at 6-6 with 2:19 left in the quarter, but a free throw from Leann Terrill and a layup from Sarah Magana gave SBU the 9-6 lead after the first.
The scoring started to pick up in the second quarter, and SBU extended their lead to five off of a Skupa layup with 9:47 left in the half. However, UNK fought back by using an 11-1 run as the Bearcats trailed 17-12 with 5:20 left in the half. SBU came right back with a 5-0 run of their own off of a pair of free throws from Skupa followed by a three from Magana, tying the game at 17-17, before UNK would end the half on a 9-3 run as the Bearcats went into the break trailing 26-20.
In the third quarter a three from Dilonna Johnson cut the deficit to three (28-25) with 8:30 remaining in the third before UNK went on a 10-0 run as SBU trailed 38-25. The Bearcats used a layup from Megan Rosenbohm and a pair of free throws from Johnson to bring the game back to single digits (38-29), but the Lopers slowly built their lead back up as SBU trailed 49-33 after three.
An Ashlee Pitts three cut the deficit down the 13 (49-36), and after a UNK bucket, a three from Rosenbohm brought SBU within 12 (51-39) with 8:09 remaining. However, the Bearcats were unable to pull any closer as SBU would eventually fall 64-52.
Megan Rosenbohm led the Bearcats in scoring with 11 points off of the bench, while Sarah Magana had 9 points and Caylee Richardson pulled down a game high 12 rebounds. As a team SBU shot 34.1% from the field, 42.9% from beyond the arc, and 80.0% from the line.
The Bearcats will continue their three-game road trip when they travel to #7 Fort Hays State on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. from Hays, Kansas.
