Kansas City, Mo. – The Bethany College women’s basketball team traveled to Avila University Saturday and came away with a 63-57 victory.
The Swedes got off to a hot start as pair of Halei Wortham, senior guard, three pointers followed by a three from Jerika Moore, freshman guard, gave the Swedes a 22-7 lead with 2:31 left in the first quarter. The Eagles would counter with a 7-0 run to trim the lead to 22-14 at the end of the quarter. Avila would tie the game at 22 with six minutes to play in the second quarter before Bethany College answered with an 8-0 run to reestablish a lead that they would never relinquish. Vasha Moore would sink a basket at the buzzer to give the Swedes a 34-29 advantage going into halftime.
To start the third quarter the Swedes would again put together an early run to stretch out the lead thanks to Julia Nygard, senior guard, scoring five straight Bethany points. Avila would then hit back to back three pointers to bring the game to 50-41 heading into the fourth quarter. The Eagles would make it a one possession game once after connecting on a pair of three’s. Bethany would seal the victory by making their free throws as the Eagles fouled in the final moments of the game.
The victory has now given the Swedes three straight over the Eagles. Bethany has now won four straight games and stays just 2.5 games back of Sterling in the KCAC standings.
Halei Wortham led the way offensively collecting 20 points and tying her career high with 4 made three point field goals. Wortham also led the Swedes in assists with 4 and tied for the team lead in rebounds with 7. Vasha Moore, junior forward, also collected 7 rebounds on the afternoon. Hannah Ferguson, junior center, joined Wortham in double figures with 11 points and added 6 rebounds. A trio of Swedes would collect two steals in Wortham, Moore, and Nygard.
The Swedes outshot the Eagles 37.3% to 32.7% from the field and 34.8% to 28.1% from three. Bethany held the rebound advantage 41-31.
Up Next . . .
The Swedes will head to York College on Monday, December 7 to take on the Panthers in a game set to begin at 4:00 PM.
