Sat., Feb. 21, 2009

   FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- After Jamika Banks splashed in a 3-pointer with 18:24 to play in the first half for a University of Saint Francis 3-0 lead, nothing went right for the Lady Cougars for the next 30 minutes in an 81-69 loss to Bethel College on Saturday afternoon.
   Banks finished with a school-record tying 17 rebounds and scored 20 points for her 10th double-double in USF's last 11 games, but BC raced out to a 48-23 lead at the half. The Lady Pilots led by as many as 35 points in the second half leaving no doubt about the final outcome to clinch their second consecutive Mid-Central College Conference regular season championship.
  It was the final home game for three seniors -- Banks, Marie Kaufmann and Jessica Teubert, a disappointing finish no question. Teubert finished with 18 points, 15 in the second half. Banks scored 13 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the second half. Kaufmann, who held on to the conference scoring lead, only managed seven points in her final game at Hutzell Athletic Center.
  "We showed some character battling back in the second half, but our poor defense and ball handling in the first half just put us in too big a hole to overcome," USF coach Gary Andrews said. "They shot well, give them credit, but part of it had to do with the way we played on defense."
  After Banks' promising start, USF didn't score again until Vini Dawson hit a 3-pointer at the 14:43 mark. USF missed two 3-point attempts and turned the ball over three times on five possessions. And BC scored on every chance starting with a game-tying 3-point play by Heather Seyfred. Bekah Basinger, who came into game averaging 10.4 ppg, hit a 3-pointer giving BC the lead for good with 17:39 to play. She would finish with 30 points to lead all scorers. After a Dawson turnover, Amber Peters converted a 3-point play for a 9-3 lead at 17:16. Basinger scored for an 11-3 lead and after Angie Roy missed a 3-pointer, Basinger hit another 3-pointer, a second-chance 3-pointer, for a 14-3 lead with 15:29 to play. After Teubert miss, Basinger was fouled at 15:00 and hit both free throws for a 16-3 lead.
  Roy hit a 3-pointer at 10:06 cutting the difference to 20-9, but Seyfred capped an 11-0 run for BC at 6:16 pushing the Lady Pilots advantage to 31-9. Banks scored to put USF in double figure scoring at 11 with 6:07 to play, but BC increased its lead to 45-20  with 1:36 to play in the first half.
   BC outscored the Lady Cougars 16-6 in the first five minutes of the first half increasing its lead to 35 -- 61-26 with 15:01 to play.
   From that point, USF outscored BC 43-20 employing full-court pressure. Teubert hit four 3-pointers in the last 2:04 of the game, but USF could get no closer than 75-64 on a Kaufmann basket with 45 seconds left in the game.
  USF (15-15, 8-8 MCC) finishes fifth in the MCC and opens the first round of the conference tournament at 18th-ranked Taylor University on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.