EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – Trailing by as many as 20 midway through the second quarter the Bethel University women's basketball team cut its deficit to six with 3:25 left, but would get no closer falling to Wisconsin-Oshkosh 78-71 in the season opener.
Three Royals reached double figures with career-high performances.
Courtney Nuest's 15 second-half points paced her to a career-high 24 points.
Anna Garfield added 18 points while
Kendal Cox contributed 15.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
• Oshkosh led 24-14 after the opening quarter cashing in from behind the arc on three separate occasions.
• Bethel shot 54.5 percent from the field in the opening 10 minutes but were limited to just four points in the paint.
• The Titans went on a 10-0 run to gain their largest lead of the night at 36-16.
•
Rosalie Penke ended the Royals scoring drought of 3:10 dialing in from long distance.
• Garfield beat the halftime horn sending BU into the locker room trailing 45-31.
Second Half
• Cox came out of the break chipping into the Oshkosh lead knocking down a pair of treys.
• The defense forced the Titans to go cold from the field shooting 36.4 percent and 0-for-4 from 3-point land.
• A pair of threes early in the fourth from Nuest pulled BU within 64-57.
• The deficit went back to 10 briefly until Nuest hit another big three with 3:25 left making it 71-65.
• Late turnovers by the Royals and free throws on the other end for Oshkosh allowed the Titans to hold off the comeback Royals.
KEY PERFORMERS
• Nuest's career-high performance of 24 points came on 10-of-16 shooting from the floor and 3-of-5 from behind the arc. She added four rebounds and a pair of assists.
• Garfield logged 35 minutes of action adding five rebounds to her career-high 18 points.
• Cox tallied all career-high 15 points in the second half while grabbing six boards.
UP NEXT
The Royals have a quick turnaround taking on Wisconsin-Eau Claire at 7 p.m.
