MANKATO, Minn. - The Bethany Lutheran women's basketball team hosted Minnesota-Morris on Friday night and nearly overcame a 25-point deficit in the final 12 minutes of play before eventually falling by a score of 62-51. With the loss the Vikings drop to 4-13 overall and 2-4 in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) play, while the Cougars move to 4-11 overall and 3-3 in conference play.
The first half in this one didn't go as planned for the Vikings, as they couldn't find their rhythm against a stout defensive team in Minnesota-Morris. They converted on just 2-of-18 shots from the field in the first 20 minutes while committing 13 turnovers as they trailed 31-15 at the break. The game seemed to continue to follow the same trend out of halftime, as the Cougars would open the half on a 18-9 run to lead by 25 with 1:55 remaining in the third before Ashley Schindele decided otherwise.
Trailing by 24 with time winding down in the third, Schindele would hit quick triples on back-to-back possessions before banking in a running three with time expiring to cut the deficit to 15 at the end of three quarters. Gianna Spain, Annika Holmstrom, and Skylar Cotten then connected on triples early in the fourth quarter as the Viking defense locked down and allowed just two free throws in that same time to trim the lead to 52-44 with 6:28 to play. Bethany's defense continued to hold strong as neither team would score for nearly three minutes before Ashanti Boykin was able to get a run out layup off an assist from Schindele to make it a two-possession game. The Vikings would then go on a scoring drought for four straight possessions as the Cougars would re-extend their lead to 11. Bethany would make one last ditch effort as a Schindele three would bring the score to 58-51 with just over a minute left but they couldn't complete the comeback as they fell 62-51.
Schindele led the Vikings in this one with 15 points to go along with seven rebounds, while Cotten added nine. Boykin also had a well-rounded game with seven points on just three shots to go along with five rebounds and three steals.
Bethany will be back in action tomorrow when they host Crown for a 4:45 p.m. contest.
