HILLSBORO, Kan. – A short turnaround awaited the Lady Bluejays on Saturday as they played in the finale of this year's iteration of the Tabor College Classic against Bellevue University.
Despite a stronger 3
rd quarter, the Bluejays couldn't find a way to get ahead, falling in their second home loss of the season.
Bellevue came out of the gate on fire, holding a 10-2 lead with 4:21 to go in the 1
st quarter.
Hailey Contreras and
Lillie Veer helped TC climb out of the hole and back into the game, with each draining crucial shots from the field, while two clutch free throws from
Miyah McGee helped the Lady Bluejays cut the deficit to three points at the end of the quarter, 13-10.
The Lady Bluejays fell behind by as many as 11 points in the 2
nd quarter, but with 29 seconds remaining in the 1
st half,
Alyvia Owens drained two free throws to put TC back within six, before a layup at the buzzer by Bellevue's Ashtyn Arnold extended the Bruins' lead to eight heading into the halftime break.
17 points for the Lady Bluejays in the 3
rd quarter couldn't get Tabor back in the game, as Bellevue continued to hold a 10-point lead heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
Neither team score for almost the entire first four minutes of the 4
th quarter, before the Bruins' Danielle Coyer gave BU a 12-point lead with a layup off an assist from Ashtyn Arnold. Tabor never got closer than seven points, eventually falling by eight.
With the loss, the Lady Bluejays drop to 2-2 on the young season, while the Bruins improve to 4-0.
"Very disappointing loss for our team", noted Head Coach
Shawn Reed. "I want to congratulate Coach Denly and his team. They totally outworked us and their energy and effort was excellent. We didn't play our scouting report tonight and our efforts to rebound were poor especially in the first half."
Lillie Veer led Tabor's offense with 20 points and one offensive rebound, shooting 9-18 (50%) from the field, followed by
Miyah McGee with 10 points.
Hailey Contreras finished just outside of double figures, contributing nine points as well as one offensive board.
Gabby Moore and Zakiyyah Muhammad led Bellevue's offense, pouring in 15 and 13 points respectively, while Muhammad dominated the glass with 10 boards. Taylor Dement finished just outside of double figures for the Bruins with nine points.
"Right now, we are an average team, but I think we can still be a good team if we can latch on to our principles and find some consistency and discipline. Every trip down the floor someone makes a mistake, and the totality of those errors is preventing us from moving forward. Hopefully we can get some of those things corrected as we head into KCAC play."
Saturday gives the Bluejays an opportunity to bounce back as they head down south to Bartlesville, Okla. to take on Oklahoma Wesleyan University in their KCAC opener. The game is set to tip off at 4pm and will be broadcast live on the
KCAC Network.
Be sure to stay up to date with all information regarding Bluejay Athletics by following us on X at @gotaborbluejays, on Instagram and Facebook @taborbluejays, and on our official athletic website,
taborbluejays.com.
