SWEDES SPIRAL AFTER LOSS TO THE SPIRES

Lindsborg, Kan.- Bethany hosted the University of Saint Mary Spires, Saturday, January 6^th . The Swedes went into the matchup with a conference record of 4-3 and the Spires with a conference record of 7-0.

1^st: Strong start for the Swedes who outscored the Spires 14-9 in the opening quarter. Out of the gate, Kisa Unruh knocked down a three-point shot, assisted by Jaden Newfarmer for the lead within the first thirty seconds of the game. St. Mary would quickly come back to tie up the game, 4-4, with well over halfway to go in the first quarter. The Spires would take the advantage, 7-6, with 6:53 left to play. Both teams experienced a scoring drought following the lead change which would last for two minutes, broken by the Spires. The Swedes would finally end their drought with a jump-shot by R'Manie Pulling, assisted by Jaden Newfarmer, 9-8, with 4:02 left in the quarter. Both teams continued to fight hard but with little change in the score until R'Manie Pulling hit a jump-shot with the plus one with only 25 seconds on the clock, leading by three, 12-9. Kaleigh O'Brien would end the quarter with a layup to extend the lead to five, 14-9.

2^nd: St. Mary would go on to outscore Bethany in the second quarter, 16-12 to stay in the game. Little action in the beginning couple of minutes of the second quarter, until Jaden Newfarmer made a successful jump-shot, 16-12, with 7:50 left to play. The Spires would chip away at the small advantage that the Swedes held but couldn't quite tie the game up. St. Mary was within one, 17-18, with just under five minutes to play. Hannah Banko would then hit a jump-shot, assisted by R'Manie Pulling to extend the lead to three, 20-17 with 3:35 left in the half. At 2:04, the Swedes found themselves tied with the Spires, 20-20. Bethany would go on to score three more jump-shots before the end of the quarter. Score at halftime was 26-25 in favor of the Swedes.

3^rd: The Spires came out in the third quarter to outscore the Swedes, 21-15 to earn a slight advantage heading into the final quarter. But most of the third quarter belonged to Bethany who managed to control the game with only allowing St. Mary to tie up the game a couple of times. It wasn't until 2:40 left to play did the Spires take the lead at 42-41. It was within those last couple of minutes the Swedes struggled to hit shots and slow the momentum for St. Mary. The Spires extended their lead to five going into the fourth quarter, 46-41.

4^th: Determined to take back the game, the Swedes quickly went to work to chip away at the deficient. Unfortunately, Bethany would remain down by six most the quarter. After a jump-shot by Kaleigh O'Brien, the Swedes were within four points, 50-54 with 3:47 left in the game. The Spires held on and extended their lead to ten points, 60-50 with just over a minute to play. Final score of the game was 64-55 in favor of St. Mary.

Notable stats include R'Manie Pulling with 13 points, Lauren Gleason with 7 rebounds and 1 block, Kaleigh O'Brien with 6 rebounds and 3 steals, Emily Green with 2 steals, Kisa Unruh with 8 points, and Jaden Newfarmer with 9 points, 4 assists, 1 block, and 2 steals.

Up Next…

Bethany is on the road at Southwestern College, Wednesday, January 10^th with a 6 pm tipoff.

#RockarStockar!