Senior Kylee Leffew scored her 1,000th career point for the Bruins but the team came up short on Thursday afternoon in a 62-53 loss to Grace Christian University in Kissimmee, Florida. With the loss, the Bruins fall to 5-8 on the season.
"We just totally lost our composure in the second half and could not regain it," Bruins Head Coach Mike LeViere said. "We forced shots, didn't see the floor, and just couldn't get our rhythm going."
The Bruins came into the game after being on winter break, but entered winning two of their last three games. The team traveled to Florida for the first of three games in three days to begin the second semester of play. Grace Christian came into the game at 6-13 overall having lost three straight games.
In the opening quarter, the Bruins and Tigers went back and forth with the score remaining close in the opening minutes. The Bruins held the upper hand but the Tigers tried to answer back from beyond the arc as GCU opened the game shooting six-straight three point attempts which all missed. Still, the Bruins and Tigers were deadlocked as the first quarter ended tied 16-16.
Kylee Leffew provided a spark to begin quarter number two as the team went on a 12-1 run to take a 30-19 lead. The story of the quarter was the Bruins defense as the team limited the Tigers offensively which opened up shots in transition. As the first half came to a close, the Tigers chipped away at the lead. Still, the Bruins went into the locker room up 36-26 at the break.
In the second half, the Bruins came out looking to stretch their lead. The Tigers used a key run in the third quarter to cut into the lead as the Bruins led 42-41 with just over two minutes to play in the quarter. The Tigers had grabbed momentum and took advantage of the Bruins turnovers to create buckets offensively. At the end of the third, the Tigers had rallied to lead 47-45.
With one quarter to play, both teams came out looking to close out the game to get the win. The Bruins struggled to maintain possession as turnovers again gave the Tigers additional offensive opportunities. With just over four minutes to play, another costly 7-0 run by the Tigers put GCU up 59-53. Unfortunately, the Bruins couldn't recover as the Tigers held on for a 62-53 win.
"We played a really good game defensively in that first half, maybe our best defensive half of the season," Coach LeViere said. "We just got tentative in the second half and it showed in every aspect of the game."
Kylee Leffew led the Bruins with 20 points and 5 rebounds but 18 turnovers proved costly for the Bruins in the loss. Next up, the team will be back in action again on Friday afternoon as they face Welch College.
