The Bruins were on the road on Monday afternoon as the team fell to Earlham College 94-68 in Richmond, Indiana. The Quakers stormed out of the gate early on and the Bruins couldn't recover as the team falls to 3-5 on the season.
"We were just not mentally prepared to play basketball today and it showed," Bruins Head Coach Mike LeViere said. "I have to do a better job of getting this team prepared to compete and we all have to perform better."
The Bruins came into the game on the heels of back to back losses to Brevard College and LaGrange College. The Quakers came into the game winless on the year as the team had dropped their first three games of the season.
From the opening tip, the Quakers came out strong as Kyra Joseph hit back to back threes to fuels a 10-2 run. The Bruins were able to find the answer as Madison Shupe hit a three and Jessiann Wiedmann made a layup to cut into the lead. The Quakers went on another big run as they closed the quarter up 30-12.
In the second quarter, the Bruins came out looking to shore up their defensive play and get back into the game. Unfortunately, turnovers plagued the Bruins and the Quakers took advantage as they continued to stretch their lead. Rachel Clark had 7 points and 8 rebounds in the first half, but the Bruins struggled to keep pace with the Quakers as they trailed 46-31 at the break.
Gracen Ledford hit a three for the Bruins as the second half began, but the Quakers answered right back as they continued to keep a double-digit lead. Kayla Bowling hit multiple three-point shots for the Quakers as they took a commanding 74-51 lead into the final quarter.
Back to back baskets for the Quakers opened the fourth quarter as the Bruins struggled to find any kind of rhythm. Still, the team continued to battle as they looked to climb back into the game. Unfortunately, the deficit was just too much to overcome as the Quakers ran away with it in a 94-68 win.
"When you get out rebounded by more than fifteen rebounds and let the other team shoot twenty more times than you do, bad things are going to happen," Coach LeViere said. "Right now we are struggling with turning the ball over and some other areas. These are things we can fix but we have to play within ourselves and with a much higher basketball IQ than we did today."
Kylee Leffew led the Bruins with 12 points while Gracen Ledford finished with 11. Rachel Clark had 13 rebounds and 8 points in the game, but the Bruins committed 21 turnovers and lost the rebounding margin 44-30 in the game.
Next up, the Bruins will be on the road again on Tuesday as they Anderson University in Anderson, Indiana. Tip-off for the game is set for 7:30 p.m.
