WINONA LAKE, Ind. - The Mid-America Christian Lady Evangels gave defending NCCAA national champion Bethel College everything it could handle but fell 73-70 in overtime of the opening game of the 2011 NCCAA Tournament.
Bethel, the No. 2 seed, found itself on the brink of being eliminated in regulation, behind 58-52 with under a minute remaining, but senior Heather Seyfred scored eight points in 34 seconds to put Bethel ahead by two. Only a tough jumper by Marcy Robinson allowed the No. 7 seed Lady Evangels to send the game into overtime.
It was Seyfred that saved the Lady Pilots from a first round exit, but in the overtime period, it was senior Bekah Basinger's turn. Basinger scored 12 of Bethel's 13 overtime points, including a big-time 3-pointer to keep Bethel in the game when they were down 66-62 with 1:38 remaining.
With the score tied at 70, the Lady Evangels (14-17) had a chance to take the lead, but on a loose-ball scramble mistakenly called a timeout when they had none. A technical foul was assessed, and Seyfred hit one free throw to put Bethel up one.
In the first half, the Lady Pilots (18-14) struggled out of the gate by hitting only 6 of its 33 field goal attempts (18.2 percent).
Bethel's defense, however, kept the Lady Evangels at bay. Mid-America Christian committed 13 turnovers before halftime and 25 turnovers overall.
The Lady Evangels found their offensive strength in the paint, scoring 14 of 20 first-half points in the key.
The Lady Evangels were down early, 9-2 and 15-9 before consecutive scores by
Melissa Aguilar helped tie the score at 15-15 at the 7:28 mark of the first half.
The Lady Pilots took a six-point lead into the half and led by seven early in the second half, but a 12-4 spurt gave the Lady Evangels their first lead of the game at 34-33 with 12:29 remaining.
MACU trailed 45-42 when
Brittany Johnson hit three straight shots to make it 48-45 in favor of the Lady Evangels.
Seyfred had a game-high 24 points with five 3-pointers, Basinger tallied 23 points on 11 of 16 shooting from the charity stripe, and Mandy Yoder contributed 11 points for the Lady Pilots. Kristen Hicks grabbed 10 boards, Basinger had nine, and Seyfred had seven.
The Lady Evangels were led by Johnson's 14 points on 7 of 12 shooting and 12 rebounds, her fourth double-double of the season. Robinson totaled 13 points,
Nicole Wittman tallied 12, and
Tranecia Smith added nine.
April Hale also added nine points and nine rebounds.
The Lady Evangels will now play the loser of No. 3 seed Emmanuel and No. 6 Trinity International tomorrow afternoon (Mar. 18) at 1 p.m.
