NORTH NEWTON – Kansas Wesleyan women’s basketball trailed 16-14 after the first quarter of Saturday’s game with the Bethel Threshers inside Thresher Gymnasium.
A 21-7 surge by the Coyotes turned the tides and the Coyotes would come away with a 70-62 win to complete the season sweep of the Threshers.
Tylieea Wallace (SO/Overland Park, Kan.) again had a solid game for the Coyotes with 15 points and 12 rebounds and was one of three to reach double figures along with LaMyah Ricks (JR/Shawnee Mission, Kan.) and Jill Stephens (SO/Colby, Kan.). Wallace’s 15 rebounds helped the Coyotes dominate the glass 51-29.
The Coyotes had a 14-11 lead heading into the final minute of the first period, but Bethel scored the final five points of the quarter to take a 16-14 lead.
It was a two-point game with 4:39 to go in the second, when the Coyotes closed the half on a 10-0 run to take a 35-23 lead into the intermission.
The Coyotes pushed their lead out to as much as 18 points after Wallace’s three-point play with 1:41 left making it 49-31. Bethel cut it to a 51-37 difference at the end of the third.
Bethel made things interesting down the stretch. The Threshers cut the Wesleyan lead to five points with 1:32 left. KWU pushed the lead back out to eight, with Stephens’ free throws with 18 seconds left sealing the deal.
Ricks had 11 and Stephens had 10 for the Coyotes who were 22 of 58 from the field for 37.9 percent. The Coyotes hit just 3 of 14 3-pointers in the game with Stephens connecting on two. Catherine Bowman (SO/Bucklin, Kan.) and Angel Roman (SO/Jacksonville, Fla.) added eight each.
The Coyotes are back in action on Monday taking on Friends in Wichita to wrap up the four-game road swing. KWU returns home on Saturday, hosting Avila at 5 p.m. at Mabee Arena.