Box Score Bruins' captain Kourtney Hoefler nearly outrebounded the Clearwater Christian College Cougars by herself as the senior recorded 19 rebounds to go along with 13 points in the Bruins decisive 61-30 victory on Saturday night.
Kourtney Hoefler finished with 13 points and 19 rebounds
in the Bruins 61-30 win over Clearwater Christian College"We had our mind set from the beginning that we were better in the post," Hoefler said. "It wasn't just our post players but our guards coming in and boxing out for rebounds and I think everyone had a good mindset of working hard in rebounding and on defense."
The victory gives the Lady Bruins their 4th straight with the team having won 9 of their last 11 games. Their most recent victory came on Friday night in a 69-52 win over Warren Wilson College. The Cougars entered the game having lost on Thursday night to Toccoa Falls College. The Bruins were a perfect 4-0 in previous contests against the Cougars and remained unbeaten against Clearwater in this game.
The Bruins used great defense and stellar transition play to knock down open opportunities and start the game on a 12-0 run. After a Cougars timeout, CCC finally ended their over 6 minute scoring drought to knock down a three-point shot. They eventually cut the lead down to 7 before the Bruins began to work the ball inside and capitalized on points around the rim. Another 8-0 run allowed the Bruins to jump back out to a double-digit lead as the half drew to a close. Abby Conover provided a boost off the bench with 3 steals and a blocked shot in the half as the defensive wall stood strong for BJU forcing the Cougars to shoot just 14% from the field. As the halftime buzzer sounded, the Lady Bruins had a comfortable 34-12 lead.
"We defended really well and our rebounding was phenomenal," Coach LeViere said. "We did the work early with our feet on defense and got rewarded with the rebounds."
In the second half, the strong rebounding and defensive presence continued for the Bruins as they came out strong forcing turnovers and converting their opportunities into points. The Bruins post players, led by Kourtney Hoefler, seemed to score at will in the paint as the team continued to increase their lead. The Cougars were able to convert some possessions, but the team finished the night shooting just 19% from the field as the Bruins coasted to a 61-30 victory.
"Defensively I have been really happy with what we have had the last couple of games," Coach LeViere said. "I really feel like if we take care of us and play how we can play the results will take care of themselves. Even tonight I didn't think we shot the ball extremely well but if we can play good defense and rebounding we can still win the games."
Kourtney Hoefler and Hannah Tompkins each scored 13 points for the team while Kendra Jeffcott chipped in 11 with 9 rebounds. The Bruins owned the rebounding stat line 59-21 and 9 of the 12 players on the team scored. The team is now 13-11 on the season and will finish up their home stand against Columbia International University on Tuesday night.
