Senior guard Shelby Kline notched a career high 28 points as the Beloit College women's basketball team fell to a strong Loras College team on the road Friday afternoon. The scoring total surpasses Kline's previous career high of 27 from last season which she also dropped on Lillis Court in Dubuque, Iowa, home of the Duhawks.
The Buccaneers played well against a Loras team coming off of an upset win over No. 21 Wisconsin-Whitewater Monday on their homecourt. The first half was a back-and-forth battle as the teams traded runs and the lead.
Kline nailed two threes to open the game and give the Bucs a 4-2 lead before the Duhawks responded with 10 straight to reclaim the advantage 12-6. Kline dropped in another long ball and Dani Strejc added another from downtown to bolster an 8-2 Bucs' spurt to make it 14-12 Beloit with under five minutes to play in the first quarter. Loras ended the period on an 11-4 run to take a 23-18 advantage heading into the second quarter.
The Duhawks pushed the margin into double figures within the first minute of the second quarter leading by as much as 13 with 4:28 left before the intermission. With just under four minutes left in the half, Candace Cunningham cashed in on the three-point play to spark a Bucs' comeback. Kline hit seven of Beloit's next eight points courtesy of two free throws, a layup and a three, to cut the gap to two, 35-33 with 1:35 remaining. Loras hit a jumper with a minute left and put back an offensive rebound at the buzzer to extend their advantage to 39-33 after one half of play.
The Bucs held a 22-12 edge in points off turnovers in the first 20 minutes of play. Kline led all players with 19 points in the first half.
The offensive momentum switched to Loras as the Duhawks hit 56-percent of their shots from the floor in the third quarter compared to just 25-percent for the Bucs allowing the gap to swell to 62-44 after the third. The Duhawks outscored Beloit 43-25 in the second half leading to the final, 82-58.
Kline led all players with 28 points on 9-of-19 from the floor, 5-of-9 from behind the arc and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. She added a game-high six steals. Cunningham added 12 points, seven boards and three steals. Point guard Lauren Glaser led Beloit with eight rebounds, including seven on the defensive glass, and four assists.
Beloit continues play in the Loras Tip-Off Classic Saturday with a noon matchup with Edgewood.
