RENO, Nev. – The Bushnell women's basketball team saw a 17-point improvement on defense from their first exhibition game, falling to the University of Nevada on Friday night, 70-48.

"I am very pleased with our early season progress," said Head Coach Chad Meadors, "from our first exhibition through tonight's match up with Nevada."
 
The Beacons (0-0) also scored ten additional points then they had in their 49-point defeat at the hands of Boise State last week and shot 34% from the field. Bushnell made their presence felt in the post, scoring 24 points in the paint against the NCAA Division I program, and out-rebounding the Wolfpack 38-36. The visitors grabbed 11 offensive boards that resulted in an 8-5 advantage in second-chance scoring. After falling behind early, the Beacons were only out-scored 32-29 over the final 20 minutes.

Coach Meadors said, "We became more physical as the game went on. Out-rebounding a D-I program is a good measurement, showing our improvement. Nevada showed how talented they are, pulling away in the second quarter and putting pressure on us and making it hard to run the offense. I was excited to see how we responded in the second half." 
 
Leading the way was Libby Mathis, scoring 12 points and six rebounds while Ellis Mastel (pictured) added eight points along with a game-high eight rebounds. Ayden Krupke scored seven points in the loss while Kyra Quinn hit a pair of three-pointers for six points.
 
Nevada (1-1) was led by Kennedy Lee, scoring 17 points on 8-for-11 scoring off the bench. Lexie Givens added 14 points and Izzy Sullivan scored ten.
 
The Beacons will play their first official game on Monday, heading to Southern California to take on Whittier College at 7:00 pm.