The Bruins went back and forth with the Ravens on Tuesday night, but a five-point third quarter hurt the team as they fell to Anderson University 67-50 in Anderson, Indiana. With the loss, the Bruins dropped their third straight and move to 3-6 on the season.
"We really played a great game from beginning to end, but the difference was we just couldn't make a bucket in the second half," Bruins Head Coach Mike LeViere said. "We played great defense against a really good team that is picked to finish high in their conference. We also did a much better job of taking care of the ball and taking the shots that we wanted to take."
The Bruins came into the game after a tough road loss less than twenty-four hours earlier to Earlham College. The team was determined to bounce back as they took the court at the O.C. Lewis Gymnasium.
In the opening minutes, the Bruins jumped out to an early lead thanks to back to back baskets by Delaney Edwards and a three by Madison Shupe. Defensively, the Bruins forced the Ravens into tough looks and grabbed rebounds to take away second chance opportunities. The Ravens closed out the quarter strong as they battled back to lead 12-11 at the end of the first.
The Ravens had grabbed momentum and stretched their lead to begin the second quarter with a jumper by Lexi Dellinger and a layup by Hannah Hawkins. Madison Shupe answered back with two-straight threes to put the Bruins up 20-18. The Bruins maintained the upper hand as they took care of possession and go open looks. Another strong close to the quarter by the Ravens gave the home team a 35-32 lead going into halftime.
As the second half began, the Bruins came out looking to get the lead back. Instead, their shooting went cold and the Ravens responded with an 8-0 run to push the lead to 43-32. It took the Bruins nearly four minutes to score their first points of the quarter as Kylee Leffew scored on a layup to make 45-34. The Bruins were able to stay within striking distance thanks to good defense but the team had a hole to dig out of as they trailed 49-37 with just one quarter to play.
Rachel Clark started the scoring for the Bruins with a layup in the fourth quarter to cut into the lead, but the Ravens answered back as Lexi Dellinger hit a three to put Anderson up 54-39. The Ravens added to their lead as Rylee Morris hit two three-pointers to put the team up 63-46. Despite their efforts, the Bruins couldn't close the gap as the game ended with the score 67-50.
"One of the main stats we took away from tonight was that we took more shots than they did because of the turnover margin," Coach LeViere said. "THat is a great sign for our team and was great improvement in effort and execution from yesterday. I am really proud of how we fought through all the way to the end of the game to finish this road trip."
Madison Shupe led the Bruins with 17 point and 8 rebounds as she was 5-8 from three point range. The Bruins were able to shoot 40% from three in the first half, but just 11% in the second half. Still, the Bruins forced 18 turnovers on the night and made great strides in several areas as they continue to build on this young season.
Next up, the Bruins will be back in action on December 7 as they face Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
