Bolivar, Mo. – The Southwest Baptist University women’s basketball team improved to 9-3 on the season with an 83-49 victory over Avila on Saturday afternoon in Bolivar.
The Bearcats and Eagles exchanged buckets to open up the game, as neither team led by more than five points for the first five minutes of the contest. With the Bearcats leading 11-8 with 5:26 to go in the first quarter, SBU used an 11-0 run to quickly push their lead to double digits. SBU used both outside shooting and post play to extend the lead, while Madison Strong hit two shots and Mackenzie Skupa chipped in four points during the run. After both teams hit shots, a Strong stepback three fell before the buzzer to give SBU a 29-15 lead after the first quarter of play.
In the second quarter the Bearcats extended their lead to 17 off of a Skupa layup coupled with a Aliyah Issac free throw to take a 32-15 lead. The two teams continued to exchange buckets, and a jumper by Caylee Richardson gave SBU a 40-22 lead with 2:53 left in the half. A pair of free throws by Isaac gave SBU their largest first half lead as they went into the break leading 46-27.
SBU continued to keep AU at an arm’s length away, and an Isaac layup with 7:55 left in the third extended the SBU lead to 20 at 50-30. Southwest Baptist and Avila continued to answer each other’s scoring, with SBU leading 55-36, before the Bearcats went on a 10-0 run before heading into the final quarter with a 65-38 advantage.
The Bearcats continued to extend their lead in the final quarter of play, and a Laura Vierkant jumper with 14 seconds remaining gave SBU their largest lead of the evening at 83-48. Southwest Baptist would go on to take the contest 83-49.
SBU was led in scoring by Alex Botkin who had 15 points, while Mackenzie Skupa had 14 points, Aliyah Isaac 13 points, and Madison Strong 11 points in the victory. On the boards Caylee Richardson pulled down 10 rebounds to go along with 8 points in the victory. As a team SBU shot 50.0% from the field, 37.5% from beyond the arc, and 78.6% from the free throw line.
The Bearcats will return to action on Thursday, January 5 when they travel to Nebraska-Kearney. Tip-off of the MIAA game is set for 5:30 p.m. from Kearney, Nebraska.
