Lady Pilots earn first win of the season

Mishawaka, Ind. – The Bethel College Lady Pilots women’s basketball team hosted the second team to receive votes in the Top 25 Coaches’ Poll this season, as the defeated/fell to Trinity Christian (Ill.) on Tuesday evening in the Wiekamp Athletic Center.

GAME VITALS

• Score: Bethel def. Trinity Christian 62-56
• Records: Bethel (1-2) | Trinity Christian (1-3)
• NAIA Top 25 Coaches’ Poll: Bethel – not rated | Trinity Christian – No. 35
• Location: Wiekamp Athletic Center | Bethel College | Mishawaka, Ind.

STAT TRACKER

• Kaitlin Elsasser: 14 pts, 6-8 fg, 14 reb
• Kamala Glenn: 15 pts, 2-3 3-pt, 4 ast
• Jessica Erwin: 9 pts, 4-5 fg, 6 reb
• Kelsey Brickner: 11 pts, 6-7 ft, 6 reb

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

• The Lady Pilots jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the first quarter and never trailed in the first quarter, and held an 18-14 lead after the first period on 8 early points from Kaitlin Elsasser.
• The Trolls grabbed their first lead at 22-21 with 6:07 remaining in the half but Kelsey Brickner hit a three-pointer to regain the lead on the next possession. The Trolls again took the lead with under a minute to go with a three-pointer and held a 32-30 lead at intermission.
• The Lady Pilots never led in the third quarter, tying the game at 44 just before the end of the period, and opened the fourth quarter on an 8-2 run to take a 52-46 with 6:09 remaining.
• The Pilots led by as much as 54-46 before the Trolls used a 10-4 run to pull within one possession. Tahya Bruce and Kaitlin Elsasserclosed the game out at the free throw line in the final 21.2 seconds to ice the game.
• The Lady Pilots outscored the Trolls 36-30 in points in the paint and shot 48.9% from the field, their best shooting percentage of the season.
• The Lady Pilots outrebounded the Trolls 42-22 and had four players with at least 6 rebounds each.
• The Lady Pilots committed 27 turnovers and were outscored in points off turnovers 25-7.
• Kaitlin Elsasser notched her third straight game with double-digit rebounds on a career-high 14 on the night, also marking her second double-double in three games this season. Entering the contest, Elsasser ranked 14^th in the nation and second in the Crossroads League in total rebounds per game with 11.000.

NEXT TIME OUT

• The Lady Pilots travel to Chicago for a pair of games this weekend, first taking on NCAA DI opponent UIC on Friday at 1pm, before taking on Roosevelt (Ill.) on Saturday at 2pm.