Winfield, Kan. – After a wild few days of postponements and rescheduling the Bethany College Women’s Basketball team was able to get back on the court today against Southwestern College.
Both teams were sloppy in the early going, as to be expected when you have 24 hours to prepare to play an opponent. The Moundbuilders were able to get out to a 6-2 lead, their largest of the game before a Julia Nygard, senior guard, three pointer pulled the Swedes within 1. The Swedes would take their first lead of the game when Hannah Ferguson, junior center, converted on a pair of free throws with four and a half minutes left in the first quarter. Southwestern would regain the lead at 19-16 with 4 seconds remaining in the quarter when Autumn Garrett, sophomore guard, found Vasha Moore, junior forward, for a basket off of a perfectly executed out of bounds play to make it 19-18 Moundbuilders after one quarter of play.
The Swedes and Moundbuilders would trade baskets to begin the second quarter, Garrett would tie the game at 22 all when she converted a fast break layup for the Swedes after stealing the ball from a Southwestern player. The Swedes would take the lead for good when Garrett found Hannah Ferguson inside for two to make the score 28-26. The Swedes and Moundbuilders continued to trade baskets until halftime where the Swedes took a 32-30 lead into intermission.
The Swedes began to pull away in the third quarter thanks to an 11-0 run. The run was highlighted by the Swedes ability to connect from three point range. Autumn Garrett began the run with a three followed by a Vasha Moore three. Garrett would then convert on a coast to coast layup after a steal before Julia Nygard connected from distance again. The Swedes would hold a 50-40 advantage going into the fourth.
Bethany College used a 16-4 run to start the fourth quarter to take a 66-44 advantage. During this time period the Swedes took control of the glass and utilized their stifling defense to frustrate the Southwestern offense time and again. The Swedes would add a short jumper from Hannah Banko, freshman forward, on an assist from Taryn Kuhn, sophomore forward, before running out the clock to reach the final score of 68-50.
It looks like the Swedes offense found their three point shooting at halftime today connecting on 7 of 14 triples in the second half in route to a season high 9 three pointers made. For the game the Swedes connected on 39.1% of their shots from distance compared to just 21.1% for the Moundbuilders. Four Swedes would score in double figures led by Vasha Moore who finished with a game high 16 points. Julia Nygard added 15 points all off of three point field goals. Autumn Garrett would chip in 14 points while Hannah Ferguson scored 10 points. Bethany College connected on 45% of their field goals on the afternoon while Southwestern only managed to shoot 34.6%. After being outrebounded by 6 in the opening half the Swedes won the rebounding battle 34-31. Leading the charge were Hannah Ferguson and Vasha Moore each controlling 8 boards on the afternoon. Garrett led the Swedes with 5 assists followed closely by Nygard and Kuhn who each finished with 4.
Up Next . . .
The Swedes will head to York, Nebraska on Tuesday 11/10/2020 to take on the York College Panthers. The Swedes have dominated the Panthers since Head Coach Keith Ferguson came to Lindsborg for the 2016-17 season going a perfect 8-0 with an average margin of victory of 23 points. The matchup with the Panthers is scheduled to begin at 6:00 PM.
