Box Score
The Bruins suffered a tough loss at the hands of Southern Wesleyan University on Friday night as the team shot just 25% from the field in a 67-49 loss. "When we're out of sync we aren't going to shoot a good percentage," Coach Mike LeViere said. "Our turnovers were inexcusable tonight. We're not going to beat a quality team when we turn the ball over and don't shoot well."

 

The Bruins came into the game on Friday night with a 5-4 record, having snapped a three-game losing streak on Thursday night with a victory over Johnson University. The Warriors had opened the 2015-16 season with back to back losses and were playing their third straight road game as they took the court in front of the Bruin faithful at the Davis Field House. 

Bridgette Gleed scored the first four points for the Bruins to start the game as the team used a 7-0 run to build an 11-3 right out of the gate. The team was executing offensively and winning eliminating second chance opportunities on defense by grabbing rebounds. Hannah Tompkins knocked down a 3 to give the Bruins a double-digit advantage 18-8. From there, the Warriors closed out the quarter on an 8-1 run as the Bruins held a 19-16 lead at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Bruins had a dismal effort offensively as the team struggled by turning the ball over and shooting poorly throughout the quarter. The Warriors capitalized on the Bruins mistakes and came storming back to take the lead. The Bruins managed just 4 points the entire quarter as the team went into the half trailing 27-23. 

"Shooting for us was really poor," Coach LeViere said. "Some of that was shot selection but mostly it was us not doing our stuff. We were rushed and gave the ball away too much."

The Bruins came out in the 3rd quarter determined to get back into the game as Bridgette Gleed helped cut the lead to one 29-28. It became a battle of free throws for the remainder of the quarter as both teams had several trips to the line. As the buzzer sounded, the Bruins trailed the Warriors 40-34 with just one quarter to go. 

In the final quarter, the Warriors rode the red hot shooting of Kristen Smith as she made 3 straight three-point shots for the Warriors to launch SWU into a double digit lead. The Bruins tried to claw their way back into the game, but costly turnovers continued to cripple the team. The Warriors got up by as much as 19 during the 4th quarter as they outscored the Bruins 27-15 in the final quarter to come away with a 67-49 victory. 

"We aren't going to make excuses, we just have to play better," Coach LeViere said. "We just let down defensively. We know they have several players that can shoot and we just gave them too much space defensively. Hopefully we get some rest and recovery before we go again tomorrow." 

Hannah Tompkins was the only player in double figures for the Bruins with 12 points while Sha'Ron Brunson had 9 and Bridgette Gleed had 6 to go along with 7 rebounds. The team shot just 25% from the field and 29% from behind the arc. The Bruins did manage to win the rebounding margin 46-44 as the team falls to 5-5 on the season. The Bruins will have a quick turnaround as they play another important conference game tomorrow afternoon on the road at Emmanuel College.