SWEDES TRIUMPH OVER SPIRES

Lindsborg, KS... Saturday night the Bethany College Women's Basketball Team took on the University of Saint Mary Spires securing themselves yet another win with a 62-57 final score. 

Bethany and St. Mary hooked up in a down to the wire defensive slugfest Saturday night in The Hahn and in the closing seconds, with the game hanging in the balance the Swedes got the biggest play of the night from Autumn Garrett who had been held in check until the final period. With just enough breathing room, Bethany earned a 62-57 win to run their current win streak to 11 games and remain a game back of conference leader Sterling coming into their showdown Wednesday night on the road.

The Spires scored first but the Swedes were quick to respond and refused to let up, securing 22 points in the first quarter, five of those from Emily Weathers and Kisa Unruh. The Spires only mustarded 13 points in the first quarter. The second quarter of the game was low scoring for the Swedes as they only sank 7 additional points, 5 of which were by Kennedy Becker. This ended the first half 23 Spires to 29 Swedes.

Both teams came back out the third quarter ready to secure the win, but the Swedes found their footing again securing another 19 points allowing them to maintain the lead 48 to 41 at the end of the third quarter. Emily Green, Kisa Unruh and Kennedy Becker all contributing 5 points each in the third quarter. Kisa Unruh quickly turned that around with a 3-Ball from the left wing and Emily Green scored two from the line and a fast break deuce to get it back to six. Bethany's push created a 48-41 advantage heading into the last quarter.

In the fourth and final quarter, the Swedes secured their first two points of the quarter off a foul committed by the Spires.  Garrett, the 3-time All-KCAC performer, didn't score in the first three quarters as she was content to try and find teammates for better offerings but she finally got on the board 54 seconds into the final stanza with a pair of charity tosses.he added one of those mid-range shots with 4:56 left, but the biggest play of the game came at 1:29 to go. St. Mary had pulled within two, 57-55, when Kylie Dunn scored as the clock hit 1:31. A stoppage of play allowed Bethany to set its press and Garrett stole the inbounds pass and in the same motion drained another 10-foot jumper for a 6-point Swede lead. A Garrett foul shot was good for the final points.The Swedes had a total of 14 points the fourth quarter with half of those coming from Autumn Garret who secured 7. The Swedes would then continue to push until the end of the game securing a 62-57 final score. 

Kisa Unruh and Kennedy Becker both reached double digits tonight securing 10 points for the Swedes. Emily Weathers followed close behind with 9 points. Leading rebounder for the Swedes was Autumn Garrett who also secured 7 points. The Swedes had a field goal percentage of 39.6% compared to the Spires 34.5%. The Swedes had 29 rebounds, 7 assists and 16 points off of turnovers compared to the Spires 35 rebounds, 12 assists and 18 points off of turnovers. 

Up Next…

The Swedes will travel to Sterling, Kansas to face off against the Sterling Warriors with a 6pm tipoff on February 1^st. The Warriors currently sit in first place in the KCAC with the Swedes one game behind. The last time these two titans faced off, Sterling walked away with a 71-69 victory back in December. 

~#ROCKARSTOCKAR~