EUGENE, Ore. – The Bushnell women's basketball played toe-to-toe with Rocky Mountain College for three quarters on Friday evening before falling to the NAIA's No. 12-ranked team 63-48 in the Beacon Classic.
The Beacons (1-4) shot 1-for-18 from the field over the final ten minutes as the Bears were able to pull away despite their own shooting woes. Rocky (3-0) shot just 30% from the field in the game, but earned a 49-33 rebounding margin with 17 offensive boards contributing to 19 second-change points. RMC also benefitted from a 24-12 discrepancy in fouls using their size advantage in an aggressive performance.
Head Coach
Chad Meadors said, "I loved the fight in our team tonight. It was really great to see how hard we played. We executed some things better on both ends of the floor and obviously we have to hit a few more shots, but against the No. 12 team in the nation you have to execute to an even higher level. We lost the game at the foul line. We made more field goals tonight, but we shot seven free-throws and they made 26."
Bushnell was led by
Jersey McGehee, scoring 14 points along with five rebounds and a game-high six assists.
Sabrina Flowers chipped in ten points and tied
Ellis Mastel for the team high with six rebounds.
Rocky Mountain was led by Iliana Moran who scored 22 points, adding five rebounds, five assists, and four steals as the point guard went 11-for-13 from the free-throw line. 6'5" center Isabelle Heggen earned a double-double for the visitors as she scored 17 points and added 12 rebounds while Angelina Cavanaugh scored 11 points with six boards.
"Rocky really smashed us on the boards tonight," added Meadors. "They are a well coached team and a really good team who will compete for the Frontier Conference championship, so this was a great opportunity for us."
UP NEXT: The Beacons will close out the Beacon Classic on Saturday, playing host to Linfield College (1-1) on Saturday at 4:00 pm.
