Late Wesleyan run pushes Lady Coyotes past Bethany
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

Kaylaen Dittmer drives around a Bethany player during the second half of the Lady Coyotes' 68-53 win over the Lady Swedes

Kansas Wesleyan outscored Bethany 21-6 over the final seven-plus minutes as the Lady Coyotes cruised past the Lady Swedes 68-53 on Saturday night at Muir Gym. The win completes the season sweep for the Coyotes over Bethany.

Wesleyan led 46-38 with 10:56 left, when Bethany answered with a 9-1 run to tie things up at 47-all with 7:14 left, before the Lady Coyotes took over. Kaylaen Dittmer started the Wesleyan run with a pair of free throws, as KWU scored 11 unanswered to lead 58-47 with 4:43 left. Amy Edelman broke the Coyote run for Bethany, but the Lady Swedes were unable to rally.

Hope Stieben opened the scoring for Bethany, hitting a three with 18:42 left, but Ascendra Peters would later tie things up at 4-all with 16:38 left on a pair of free throws. Wesleyan would grab its first lead at the 14:57 mark on a putback by Charressa Gray, but Bethany would take a three-point advantage at 12-9 with 12:38 left on a bucket by Edelman.

The Coyotes would answer, erasing the Lady Swede lead, and taking a short 13-12 lead with 11:27 left, before Bethany would take its biggest lead of the night, four points, 19-15, with 8:37 left on a Trisha Dietz bucket.

Wesleyan would rally again, scoring nine unanswered points as park of an 11-1 run, giving the Lady Coyotes their biggest lead of the half at 26-20 with 4:12 left.

Bethany would rally with its own 9-2 run to take a 29-28 lead with 2:56 left on a Stieben three, as she scored all nine points of the Lady Swede run. Jenn Lee would the Coyotes the lead back with 2:29 left, and the Lady Coyotes would take a 34-31 advantage into the halftime break.

KWU (7-15, 3-9) would use a 5-0 run to start the second half, taking its biggest lead of eight points with 15:31 left on a Jentri Dixon free throw. Dietz would answer with a three for Bethany, but the Lady Coyotes would again lead by eight 46-38 with 10:56 to go on a steal and layup by Ascendra Peters.

Bethany would use Edelman’s layup to start its game tying rally, but Wesleyan would force four turnovers in nine Bethany possessions after the Lady Swedes tied things up to pull away, taking a 13-point lead, 62-49, with 2:06 left.

Stieben would hit a pair of free throws with 1:28 left to get Bethany (5-16, 3-8) within nine, but the Coyotes would force three more Bethany turnovers in its final four possessions, as they scored the final six points of the game, coming away with the 68-53 win.

Peters would lead the way for the Coyotes with 17, as all five Wesleyan starters would finish in double figures. Dixon would add 14, and Gray pitched in 12 as the Coyotes were 20-of-52 from the field for 38.5 percent. Wesleyan would also force 24 Bethany turnovers which turned into 27 points for the Lady Coyotes. Dixon led the Lady Coyotes on the boards with seven, while Chantay Seim added six as Wesleyan enjoyed a 36-31 advantage in rebounding.

Edelman led the Lady Swedes with 15, while Stieben had 14 as Bethany shot 18-of-45 from the field for 40 percent. Candace Friedrich had eight rebounds to lead Bethany, while Angie Heinen added seven. Bethany was hampered by 24 turnovers, six by Dietz and five by Heinen.

The Lady Coyotes are off until Thursday, when they host Friends at 6:00 in Muir Gym.

-- KWU SI --