Women's Basketball
Lady Pilots Fall in Season Opener
Game Summary
The NAIA DII No. 8 ranked Lady Pilots were soundly defeated 82-58 by Mount Marty College in the first round of the Godfather’s Pizza October Classic in Fremont, Neb.
Bethel’s 5-2 lead early in the game was their only lead as Mount Marty knocked down 68% of their first half shots to lead 42-33 at the intermission. Bethel trailed by as many as 17 points with just over three minutes left in the half, before sparking a run to cut the lead to nine by halftime.
The junior backcourt of Heather Seyfred and Mandy Yoder both scored 11 points apiece to lead the Bethel scoring in the opening half but Bethel struggled shooting the ball and contesting shots to fall behind in what turned out to be an insurmountable margin.
Yoder led the Lady Pilots with 18 points, while Seyfred finished with 15. There were some bright spots for the ladies as freshmen Kristen Hicks (11 points), Georgia Boisse (10 rebounds) and Alyssa Toupin (4 points) showed signs of life in the second half for BC.
The Lady Pilots were playing without Bekah Basinger, who is still struggling with severe ankle pain and may not be able to play this season. Basinger averaged 12.8 ppg last year, including over 19 ppg in her final 10 games of the season.
“Today was a tough beginning to the season,” said coach Jody Martinez. “My coaching staff and I knew that going into this weekend without Bekah was going to be a huge challenge for this young team. We have prepared for the past month and a half with Bekah being one of our key players on both ends of the court. She provides a great scoring threat and physical presence on the boards. Now that she’s not playing, we need to find someone else to step up to the challenge of bringing some of the energy to the court that we have lost. Our goal moving forward is to be competitive until we find that player.”
The Lady Pilots will play Saturday against the host school Midland Lutheran before heading home and preparing for their first home game on November 7th against cross town foe Holy Cross.
