The Bethany Lutheran women's basketball team climbed out of a 13-point first quarter deficit on Friday night, tying the game after three quarters before eventually falling to Wheaton 77-73. With the loss the Vikings fall to 0-2 while the Thunder move to 1-0.
Wheaton got out to a quick start jumping out to a 20-7 lead in the first six minutes of play.
Aubrea Kor and
Lexiss Trygg would then both score inside to bring the deficit back under 10 points. Wheaton would hold their lead at nine though as they claimed a 24-15 edge into the second quarter.
After the Thunder extended their lead back to 11 to open up the second, freshman for the Vikings would start to make their mark as they combined for all 17 points in the second quarter with Bethany outscoring Wheaton 17-13 in the frame to bring the lead down to five points headed into the halftime break.
Kaylee Hunter would knock down a three-pointer to open the second half before Kor hit a three of her own to give the Vikings their first lead since the 8:32 mark of the first quarter at 38-37. After the Thunder would re-take a one-point lead, Hunter would hit another triple to spark an 8-2 run to put the Vikings up 48-43 with 2:48 to go in the third. Bethany would continue to hold onto a slim lead late in the third quarter, before Wheaton knocked down a three with time winding down to tie the game and send the teams even headed to the fourth.
In the fourth Wheaton would start to build a lead once again, opening the frame red hot from the field and outscoring the Vikings 15-9 in the first five minutes to hold a 69-63 lead midway through the quarter.
Once again though the Vikings fought back, as
Gianna Klarenbeek would hit a three and then find three points the old-fashioned way on the next possession to tie the game at 69 with four minutes to play. The Thunder would get a layup with three minutes to go before the scoring hit a lull.
A free throw from Trygg with a minute and a half left would cut the deficit to one before an inside score from Wheaton put them back up three. With under 20 seconds to play, Klarenbeek would miss a three but Trygg would get fouled on the rebound and make both free throws to bring the game back to one point. That one point would be as close as the Vikings got though, as the Thunder would make their free throws and a three-pointer from the Vikings missed its mark late to give the home team the four-point win.
Klarenbeek had a big day for Bethany, notching 22 points to lead all scorers in the contest while Kor added 15. Trygg had a solid outing off the bench for the Vikings, totaling nine points and a team-high seven rebounds and two blocks.
Bethany will be back at it tomorrow when they take on Dubuque at 3:00 p.m. in Wheaton, Ill.
