Bethel Downs Lancer Women's Hoop Team
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
WINONA LAKE - Had it been a costume ball rather than a basketball game, Grace College's women's team could have gone as Jekyll and Hyde Tuesday evening.
In a 69-51 loss at home to Mid-Central Conference foe Bethel, the Lancers trailed 18-7 early but came back and trailed just 20-18 with 6:55 left in the first half.
This, the Grace team that fought back and showed heart, made second-year Lancer coach Steve Carlson proud. But in an instant, almost as quickly as they got back in the game, the Lancers found themselves down 50-27 - victims of a 30-9 run by the visiting Pilots.
In a word, as Carlson said, Grace lacked consistency on offense.
"I was pleased with our energy all night, I thought we worked hard for 40 minutes," Carlson said. "We didn't have the consistency we needed, but we worked hard. Defensively, I was pleased with the tempo of the game. Bethel can score 80, 85 points a night."
A team that sports the top three three-point shooters in the MCC, Bethel shot just 6 of 29 (20.7 percent) from the arc and went scoreless for four minutes in the second half.
For Carlson and the Lancers this is good news. Only problem is, over the Pilots' four-minute scoreless stretch Grace scored but six points, cutting the Bethel advantage from 50-27 to 50-33.
"They're a veteran ball club," Carlson said of Bethel. "Give them credit, they're a good basketball team. We're a work in progress."
With the loss, Grace falls to 5-13 overall and 0-3 in MCC play. Bethel, ranked 15th in the latest NAIA poll, improved to 15-4 and 2-1.
Much like they did in the first half, the Lancers played well in spurts, even cutting what had been a 23-point lead to just 11, 59-48, with 5:46 to play. But again Bethel came back with a run of its own, this time a 10-1 run that pushed its lead to 20, 69-49, with 2:03 left in the game.
Scoring Bethel's first 11 points, 5-foot-8 senior Shallon Bowden finished with a game-high 14 points. She also pulled down nine rebounds and had four steals.
Brandy Swihart added 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Pilots, while Kristi Kaniewski and Stacy Handschu added nine and eight points, respectively.
Leading the way for the host Lancers was Tracie Mezera and Kelly Springer with 13 points each. Springer also led the team with eight boards. Angie Krach aided the Grace effort with 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Lancers, now on a three-game losing streak, host Marian Saturday.
NO. 15 (NAIA) BETHEL 69, GRACE 51
Bethel (15-4, 2-1) 35 34 - 69
Grace (5-13, 0-3) 22 29 - 51
Bethel FG FT R S Pts.
* Handschu 2-10 2-2 1 5 8
* Bowden 4-10 5-6 9 4 14
* Huntsman 2-6 2-2 5 1 6
* Zellers 2-7 1-2 1 1 5
* Swihart 4-11 2-2 11 1 10
Roberts 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Unzicker 1-3 0-0 0 0 2
Bennett 2-4 0-0 2 0 5
Hughes 0-5 0-0 1 1 0
Seevers 2-7 2-3 6 1 6
Kaniewski 3-8 1-2 2 1 9
Miller 1-2 2-2 3 0 4
Denny 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 23-73 17-21 43 15 69
Grace FG FT R S Pts.
* Zeigler 0-1 0-0 2 0 0
* Mezera 5-17 3-4 2 3 13
* Springer 3-9 6-6 8 2 13
* Riffell 1-6 4-6 4 0 6
* Krach 2-5 6-7 7 0 10
Amor 1-1 0-0 0 0 2
Roley 1-1 0-0 0 0 2
Kister 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
Smither 1-4 1-2 3 1 3
Cobb 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Ollis 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Rausch 1-1 0-0 0 0 2
Totals 15-47 20-25 28 6 51
Three-point goals - Bethel 6 (Handschu 2, Kaniewski 2, Bowden 1, Bennett 1), Grace 1 (Springer 1). Team rebounds - Bethel 5, Grace 10. Fouls - Bethel 21, Grace 17. Fouled out - none. [[In-content Ad]]
WINONA LAKE - Had it been a costume ball rather than a basketball game, Grace College's women's team could have gone as Jekyll and Hyde Tuesday evening.
In a 69-51 loss at home to Mid-Central Conference foe Bethel, the Lancers trailed 18-7 early but came back and trailed just 20-18 with 6:55 left in the first half.
This, the Grace team that fought back and showed heart, made second-year Lancer coach Steve Carlson proud. But in an instant, almost as quickly as they got back in the game, the Lancers found themselves down 50-27 - victims of a 30-9 run by the visiting Pilots.
In a word, as Carlson said, Grace lacked consistency on offense.
"I was pleased with our energy all night, I thought we worked hard for 40 minutes," Carlson said. "We didn't have the consistency we needed, but we worked hard. Defensively, I was pleased with the tempo of the game. Bethel can score 80, 85 points a night."
A team that sports the top three three-point shooters in the MCC, Bethel shot just 6 of 29 (20.7 percent) from the arc and went scoreless for four minutes in the second half.
For Carlson and the Lancers this is good news. Only problem is, over the Pilots' four-minute scoreless stretch Grace scored but six points, cutting the Bethel advantage from 50-27 to 50-33.
"They're a veteran ball club," Carlson said of Bethel. "Give them credit, they're a good basketball team. We're a work in progress."
With the loss, Grace falls to 5-13 overall and 0-3 in MCC play. Bethel, ranked 15th in the latest NAIA poll, improved to 15-4 and 2-1.
Much like they did in the first half, the Lancers played well in spurts, even cutting what had been a 23-point lead to just 11, 59-48, with 5:46 to play. But again Bethel came back with a run of its own, this time a 10-1 run that pushed its lead to 20, 69-49, with 2:03 left in the game.
Scoring Bethel's first 11 points, 5-foot-8 senior Shallon Bowden finished with a game-high 14 points. She also pulled down nine rebounds and had four steals.
Brandy Swihart added 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Pilots, while Kristi Kaniewski and Stacy Handschu added nine and eight points, respectively.
Leading the way for the host Lancers was Tracie Mezera and Kelly Springer with 13 points each. Springer also led the team with eight boards. Angie Krach aided the Grace effort with 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Lancers, now on a three-game losing streak, host Marian Saturday.
NO. 15 (NAIA) BETHEL 69, GRACE 51
Bethel (15-4, 2-1) 35 34 - 69
Grace (5-13, 0-3) 22 29 - 51
Bethel FG FT R S Pts.
* Handschu 2-10 2-2 1 5 8
* Bowden 4-10 5-6 9 4 14
* Huntsman 2-6 2-2 5 1 6
* Zellers 2-7 1-2 1 1 5
* Swihart 4-11 2-2 11 1 10
Roberts 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Unzicker 1-3 0-0 0 0 2
Bennett 2-4 0-0 2 0 5
Hughes 0-5 0-0 1 1 0
Seevers 2-7 2-3 6 1 6
Kaniewski 3-8 1-2 2 1 9
Miller 1-2 2-2 3 0 4
Denny 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 23-73 17-21 43 15 69
Grace FG FT R S Pts.
* Zeigler 0-1 0-0 2 0 0
* Mezera 5-17 3-4 2 3 13
* Springer 3-9 6-6 8 2 13
* Riffell 1-6 4-6 4 0 6
* Krach 2-5 6-7 7 0 10
Amor 1-1 0-0 0 0 2
Roley 1-1 0-0 0 0 2
Kister 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
Smither 1-4 1-2 3 1 3
Cobb 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Ollis 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Rausch 1-1 0-0 0 0 2
Totals 15-47 20-25 28 6 51
Three-point goals - Bethel 6 (Handschu 2, Kaniewski 2, Bowden 1, Bennett 1), Grace 1 (Springer 1). Team rebounds - Bethel 5, Grace 10. Fouls - Bethel 21, Grace 17. Fouled out - none. [[In-content Ad]]