Box Score The Lady Bruins tied the game with 13 seconds to go on a pair of free-throws from Madison Shupe, but the Warren Wilson Owls defeated Shupe and the Bruins in overtime 79-73. With the loss, the Lady Bruins have now lost three of their last four games as the team sits at 13-16 on the season.
"Ultimately we came up a few stops short but it was a great effort coming after returning from a long road trip," Bruins Head Coach Mike LeViere said. "This was a night and day difference between today and the last time we played them."
The Bruins got off to a hot start and were leading the Owls 16-6 after the first quarter. BJU was led by Shupe who hit six three-pointers throughout the contest. Bruins guard Sydney Bedsaul also had a high-scoring game, scoring 14 points and making 7-8 free-throw attempts.
Basketball is often a game of runs, one team normally pushes ahead, and then the other team makes some changes in order to keep up. The Owls made a few different personnel switches and began scoring on the Bruins 2-3 zone defense. Owls guard Danasia Dunes scored 32 points and also grabbed 10 rebounds in the game. In the second quarter, the Owls went on a run while holding the Bruins to just seven points in the quarter. Meanwhile, the Warren-Wilson guards caught fire, and scored 23 in the frame.
The Bruins won the third and fourth quarters by slim margins which culminated in Shupe's pair of free-throws with just 13 seconds to go. Warren Wilson's Kaylie Mayo missed the game-winner, and both teams prepared for overtime.
In overtime the Owls pushed ahead and hit clutch shot after clutch shot while the Bruins struggled to keep pace. The Bruins out-rebounded the Owls 34-24, but couldn't turn their size advantage into points. The Bruins shot just 33% from the field and struggled to make layups in overtime. It looked as though the team had a shot when Sydney Bedsaul scored an and-one layup with about two minutes to go in OT, but the Owls kept scoring and never looked back as they finished off the Bruins 79-73.
"We had a game plan and our ladies executed that very well," Coach LeViere said. "We started well, had good defense most of the game and kept ourselves in the game by getting stops. We stalled for a bit in the 2nd quarter but overall really happy with how we played tonight."
Next up, the Lady Bruins will finish regular season play on Saturday as they welcome Columbia International University at 2 p.m.
