MANKATO, Minn. —The Bethany Lutheran women's basketball team (15-6 overall, 9-0 UMAC) pulled out a 78-71 win over Wisconsin-Superior (5-14, 4-6) Saturday afternoon, extending its longest conference win streak to begin a season in team history.
Superior hit five of its opening six shots from the field as it took an early 11-4 lead. Bethany battled back to pull within one at the quarter break, 19-18.
An entertaining first half continued into the second frame, as senior Hanna Geistfeld (Truman, Minn.) grabbed her 1,000th career rebound midway through the quarter. Geistfeld became the second player in program history to break the 1,000-rebound threshold.
In all, there were nine lead changes and seven ties in the first half. The Vikings prevailed to take a 34-33 lead into the intermission, though, behind Geistfeld's 17 first-half points and two second-quarter treys by junior Ashley Schindele (Kimball, Minn.).
Bethany gained 12 assists in the first half compared to the Jackets' five.
In the third quarter, UWS was able to force seven BLC turnovers to gain control 55-52 heading into the final frame.
Back-to-back triples by Schindele brought the Vikings within two points with five minutes to play in the game. A minute later, a free throw from junior Taryn Christensen (South Sioux City, Neb.) gave the team its first lead at 66-65 since midway through the third.
Bethany was then able to string stops together and ice the game at the line.
Geistfeld recorded 37 points and 12 rebounds on the day, marking her 15th double double of the season.
Freshman Haley Meyer (Centerville, S.D.) finished with 18 points and six rebounds. Schindele scored 12 points, all coming from three-pointers.
Christensen and sophomore Ashanti Boykin (St. Paul, Minn.) each had five assists.
BLC held a big advantage at the free throw stripe over UWS, shooting 21-29 (72.4%) on the night while holding the Yellowjackets to seven free throw attempts in the game. The Vikings also outrebounded the Jackets (36-25).
Bethany is back in action to begin its final leg of the homestand next Friday at 5:30 p.m. against Crown College.
