SPRING ARBOR, MI – The Spring Arbor University women's basketball team just couldn't connect on the shots they needed to overcome the Bethel College Pilots on Saturday afternoon in the only home game in December. The Cougars lost to the Pilots 59-65 in a closely contested ball game in a Crossroads League match up.
The Pilots held the shooting advantage from the field 38% to 33% and that was the main difference in the game. Spring Arbor hit just five of 22 from outside the 3-point arc.
Spring Arbor led the game for just over five minutes in the first half when Jessica Garrison connected on one of her three 3-pointers just over four minutes into the game until 10:21 left in the half when Bethel reclaimed the lead with a 3-pointer by the Pilot's Ashley Lutz.
The lead would change hands back and forth over the next six minutes until Bethel took charge for good with 4:04 left before the halftime break. The Pilots led 30-23 at the half.
Bethel would lead Spring Arbor by as many as 12 points in the second half, but the Cougars whittled the lead down to just four points (57-61) with 43 seconds to play but couldn't take advantage of Bethel's missed free throws late in the game to cut into the lead any further. Time ran out on Spring Arbor comeback bid with the final score 59-65.
For the second time in as many games, Cougar scoring leader, Carly Newman was held under 10 points. Newman finished with nine points, but she did lead the game with 13 rebounds. Jessica Garrison led a trio of double digit scorers for the Cougars with 14 points, Karly Bender scored 12 points and Kylie Townsley added 11 points. Rachel Driesenga's solid performance had her scoring seven points and hauling in eight rebounds on the afternoon.
Spring Arbor falls to 5-5 and 1-2 on the season and in Crossroads League play and will spend the rest of the calendar year on the road starting with Holy Cross College in Notre Dame, IN on Tuesday night, December 10 at 5:30 p.m. A week later, Spring Arbor will visit Grand Rapids, Michigan for a game with Cornerstone University on the 17th at 5:30 p.m. The Cougars will end the year in the SportsONE Classic Tournament in Fort Wayne, IN playing Trinity Christian College on the 30th and Indiana Tech on New Year's Eve.
