Bourbonnais, Ill. – The Bethany College Swedes Women’s Basketball team took a trip from Chicago, Illinois to Bourbonnais, Illinois as part of a two-game road trip. The Swedes took on the Olivet Nazarene University Tigers for the latter part of the trip.
Hannah Banko kicked off the scoring as both teams were unable to score on their first possessions. The Tigers would finally get on the board by way of the three-pointer to take the lead and enhance their lead with a couple of free throws to make it 5-2 with 7:57 left in the first period. Both teams would go quiet until Martina Aeschliman ended the drought with a three-pointer to even it with 4:28 left in the quarter. Emily Green would give Bethany the lead following a steal by R’Manie Pulling. The Tigers would tie it up with a layup on their next possession but Jaden Newfarmer would put the Swedes back up with a putback layup, but Olivet Nazarene would again answer back to knot it up 9-9. On the next Bethany possession, Kaleigh O’Brien would put the Swedes up 11-9. The Tigers would make one of two free throws to cut the Bethany lead to 1. The Swedes would outscore the Tigers 7-3 to go into the second quarter up 18-13.
The first 2:30 of the second period resulted in both teams hitting two free throws apiece. Olivet Nazarene would knot it at 20 following a three-pointer and take the lead via a layup. Emily Green would drain two free throws to tie it at 22 with 7:01 to play. With 6:03 left in the period, the Tigers would take the lead, but Colbi Rignell would answer back with a deep-ball to put the Swedes up 25-24. Olivet Nazerene would answer Rignell’s three-pointer with one of their own to take back the lead. Following a couple of free throws, Mackenzie Knoll would take the lead with a layup followed by a Newfarmer layup allowing Bethany to take a 40-37 into the break.
The third quarter seemed to be the quarter that the Swedes would begin to separate themselves from the Tigers. Bethany would outscore Olivet Nazarene 18-9 over the first 7:45 of the period enroute to the Swedes’ largest lead of the night at 12. The Tigers would regroup and end the quarter on a 9-2 run. The Swedes would lead 60-55 going into the final period.
In the fourth, the Tigers would keep the momentum tying the score 66-66 with 6:42 left to play. A few possessions later, Jaden Newfarmer would convert an and-1 layup to put the Swedes up 3. Olivet Nazarene would answer back with a layup, but R’Manie Pulling would follow up with a shot from downtown pushing the lead to 4. Martina Aeschliman would add to the lead to make it 76-70 with 5:00 minutes left. The Tigers would not go away as they would cut the Swede lead to 1 with 2:00 minutes left to play. Following a Tiger timeout, Hannah Banko would convert a layup to make it 83-80. Olivet Nazarene would hit one of two free throws to cut the lead to 2 with 40 seconds left meaning the Tigers would have to foul to stay in it. Bethany would go 5 for 6 in free throws in the final minutes to ice it and take this one 90-83.
Jaden Newfarmer would lead the Swedes in scoring with 20 points off the bench. Martina Aeschliman was right behind with 19 from the bench. Hannah Banko provided 16 points. Lauren Gleason led Bethany in rebounds and steals with 7 and 4, respectively, while R’Manie Pulling orchestrated the offense with 5 assists.
Bethany would shoot 56.9% from the floor compared to Olivet Nazarene’s 40.8%. The Swedes would tally 23 assists as a team compared to the Tigers 9. Most of the Swedes’ offense came from the bench as 57 of their 90 points were scored by non-starters.
Up Next…
The Swedes will return home and hit the road on Friday, November 3rd to participate in the Coyote Classic in Salina, Kansas hosted by the rival Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes. Bethany will play two games as part of the classic, but first up will be Langston University with a tipoff set for 2:00pm. Their second game will be against Morningside University on Saturday, November 4th with a tipoff set for 12:00pm.
