The Beloit College women's basketball team used a huge advantage in offensive rebounds to seal a 76-66 win over Concordia University Chicago on the road Tuesday afternoon.
The Buccaneers had their offense clicking from the opening jump outscoring the home team 19-7 in the first quarter. The Cougars started to whittle away at the gap narrowing the lead to 33-24 at the break. A big third quarter for CUC had the Cougars doubling their first half effort to knot the game 47-47 after three quarters.
Johanna McNair and
Hadja Bayo knocked down the first two buckets of the second half before a Cougar triple cut the lead back to one. Beloit responded with a 9-0 run bolstered by an old fashioned three-point play from
Elizabeth Kalk to push the advantage into double figures once again, 60-50 with just over six minutes left.
The Cougars cut into the deficit pulling to within five, 62-57, at the 4:17 mark but the Bucs were up to the challenge using transition points and offensive rebounds to seal the game. Bayo hit a layup following a Kalk steal before
Hannah Welte knocked down a jumper after a
T'Aira Boyance offensive board to extend the lead back to nine.
With less than three to go, CUC began to foul. Beloit countered their free throw shooting woes with offensive rebounds that made a difference late. In a span of 15 seconds around the two minute mark, the Bucs hauled in three offensive boards, each leading to points. From there, Beloit sealed the game at the line.
The Bucs out-rebounded the Cougars 43-35 including a 17-10 advantage on the offensive glass. Beloit forced 26 turnovers while limiting their own with 15 in the game. Fastbreak points and points off turnovers gave Beloit a big advantage in the contest with the Bucs outscoring CUC 42-22 in the two categories.
Kalk led Beloit with 20 points followed by Boyance with 18 on 6-10 from the floor. Bayo dropped in 13 and registered a team high nine rebounds. Welte posted a fantastic all-around performance with 15 points, five boards, seven assists and five steals.
