Hoosier State Today

It was a difficult shooting night for the Bethel Women's Basketball team (4-10), who dropped their tenth consecutive game of the season, losing to the Spring Arbor Cougars (12-4) 85-65 Wednesday night at the Wiekamp Center.

The night started off as a back-and-forth affair with Bethel and Spring Arbor trading shots until 3:48 in the first quarter where the Cougars took advantage of two empty possessions to pull away by as much as eight points and ending the quarter leading the Pilots 28-21.

Junior guard Nyla Asad drained a three-pointer and a layup early in the second quarter to bring the Pilots back to a two-point deficit, but Spring Arbor would answer with four unanswered points by the 5:58 mark to give the Cougars a 6-point cushion, 34-28.

A layup just before the end of the first half gave the Cougars a 43-32 lead over the Pilots and from that point they would not look back as they built their lead to as many as 20 points in the second half on their way to an 85-65 victory.

As a team, Bethel struggled all night shooting the ball, connecting on just 39% of their shots from the field (25-63) and a frigid 22% from beyond the arc (6-27).Nyla Asad and Mariah Claywell were the only two Pilots to score in double figures with 16 and 14 points respectively. Asad's 16 points were a new season high, while Claywell nearly matched her career high of 15 points (vs. the University of Indianapolis on December 15).

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

• The Cougars dominated the paint, outscoring the Pilots 44-26

• Both teams struggled from long range, as each hit just 22% from behind the three-point line.

• Nyla Asad scored a season high of 16 points.

NEXT TIME OUT

The Pilots continue their conference home stand against Huntington University on Saturday, Jan. 7 at 1:00 p.m. on the Bethel Sports Network's basketball double-header.

For the latest information on each of Bethel University's 31 intercollegiate athletic teams, visit BUPilots.com or follow the Pilots on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @BUPilots or YouTube at /BethelSportsNetwork.

Original source can be found here.