Kearney, Neb. – The Southwest Baptist University women’s basketball team fell in the opening round of the MIAA Tournament at Nebraska-Kearney on Monday evening 75-46. SBU finishes the season 16-13 (11-11 MIAA).
The Bearcats were quick to score at the start of the game, as the Bearcats held an early 8-0 advantage. Caylee Richardson started things off with a jumper, followed by back-to-back three’s from Sarah Magana and Dilonna Johnson to put SBU up 8-0 early. After a UNK three, Johnson hit another jumper to maintain a 10-3 lead with 7:07 left in the first quarter. Over the next five minutes, the Lopers used a 10-0 run to take a 13-10 lead with 2:26 left in the quarter, but after a pair of free throws from Megan Rosenbohm and jumpers from Johnson and Pitts, SBU re-took the lead at 16-13. A three on UNK’s last possession of the first quarter tied the contest at 16-16 after one.
Coming out for the second quarter UNK started things off with a jumper, but an old-fashioned three-point play from Richardson gave SBU the lead again at 19-18 with 9:35 left in the half. UNK responded with a 13-1 run, and taking a 31-20 lead, before SBU would go into the half trailing 39-24.
After exchanging a pair of baskets to open up the second half, UNK went on a 10-1 run to extend their lead to a game high 24 (53-29) with 3:28 remaining in the quarter. The Bearcats and Lopers would hold steady for the remainder of the quarter as SBU trailed 57-34 heading into the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter the Lopers continued to extend their lead as SBU would eventually fall 75-46.
SBU was led in scoring by Dilonna Johnson and Caylee Richardson who had 11 points a piece, while Sarah Magana and Ashlee Pitts both chipped in 7 points. As a team SBU shot 28.6% from the field, 20.0% from beyond the arc, and 57.9% from the free throw line.
