MISHAWAKA, IN – The Lady Cougars struggled, on the road, in the first half of play against the Pilots of Bethel College on Saturday afternoon as Spring Arbor dropped a Crossroads League contest to Bethel 69-59.

With sluggish play in the first half of play and the first three minutes of the second half, Spring Arbor found themselves down by 20 (43-23) and trying to find a way back into the game.  With the clock at 16:39, Spring Arbor would out-score the Pilots 13-6 during one run and 10-2 during a different stretch and with 1:56 remaining in the game Carlie Newman hit a 3-pointer to cut the Bethel lead to 10 points. 

Spring Arbor would get no closer than the 10 points but did out-score the Pilots 38-34 in the second half.

"This was a tale of two halves," said Coach Ryan Frost.  "I thought the first half we really were not ready to play and were very lethargic.  The second half, we fought hard, played aggressive and were on the attack.  We continue to search for consistency with this young group."

Newman led Spring Arbor with 14 points and nine rebounds and Jessica Garrison and Aimee Konkel each added 11 points for the Cougars.

With the loss, Spring Arbor falls to 8-14, 2-8 while Bethel improves to 18-4, 8-2.

The Cougars will return home on Wednesday night for a 7:00 game with the University of Saint Francis.