The 19th ranked Lady Warriors were on the road in North Newton, Kansas against the Threshers for a Wednesday night showdown. Sterling took on Bethel's best blow early and withstood it. The Lady Warriors outlasted the Threshers in a 64-52 win.
Bethel had the advantage out of the gate as they came out ready to attack and took an early 6-0 lead. Looking to squash the early run, Sterling called an early timeout. Bethel's pressure out of the timeout forced a Warrior turnover, which led to a three-point basket by Josie Stupey. Sterling finally got on the board with a layup by Karsen Schultz. After Bethel hit another three, coach KC Bassett had seen enough of the five players that were on the floor and brought in a whole new unit. The Warriors were able to find their groove and worked their way back into the game and took a 20-16 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was highly competitive most of the way and neither team was able to put a big run together. At one point Sterling was able to push its lead to 8 points, their largest of the half. Sterling was only able to muster 1 free throw by Kali Briar in the last 3 minutes of the first half. Fortunately for the Warriors, Bethel's offense was stagnant and was only able to cut the lead to four before the break. Sterling went into the halftime break with a 34-30 lead.
The third quarter was controlled by the Lady Warriors. Karsen Schultz took over after the break and scored 8 of her game-high 21 points in the 3rd quarter. As Sterling opened up a 12 point lead, the Warriors had scoring contributions from Bethany Stucky, Kayla Morris, and Korynn Clason. Sterling's stifling defense held Bethel to just 10 points in the third quarter. The Warriors went into the final quarter with a 52-40 lead.
The beginning of the fourth quarter was just like the beginning of the game. Bethel came out and scored the first 8 points of the quarter and cut Sterling's lead to 52-48. Sterling was able to right the ship and scored the next six points to push the lead back to double-digits again at 58-48. The Warriors closed out the game on a 6-4 run to seal the win with a final score of 64-52.
Karsen Schultz led the Lady Warriors with 21 points and 6 rebounds. Korynn Clason came off the bench and had 18 points while going 6-6 from the free throw line. Bethany Stucky had 6 points and 6 rebounds; Taya Wilson had 8 rebounds of her own.
Sterling is now 8-3 on the season and 5-1 in KCAC play, back to a familiar place atop the league standings. The Warriors have now won 5 straight and look to make it six in a row in the Gleason Center on Saturday evening against Friends University. Gametime is at 5 pm with the JV playing earlier in the day at 12:45 pm. Friends University is also 8-3 overall and 4-2 in KCAC play. They are coming off of a conference loss to the University of Saint Mary Spires.
Be sure to check for news and updates on Sterling Warrior Athletics on Facebook (/SCWarriors), Twitter (@SterlingCSports), and Instagram (sterlingcsports), as well as the hashtag #SwordsUp. Watch the Warriors' live home events on the Sterling College Sports Network.
Original source can be found here.
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