Beavers Rally but Fall Short in Home Opener

CARLINVILLE, IL -- The Blackburn College Women's Basketball Team rallied from a nine-point third quarter deficit to tie the game late in the fourth quarter before seeing the visiting Sabercats of Maranatha Baptist score the final four points in a 73-69 non-conference loss.  The Beavers played valiantly despite injuries that kept at least five players out of tonight's contest.  The first quarter was played tight with the Sabercats leading by as much as five before the quarter ended 19-16 in favor of Maranatha.

The second quarter was played back and forth and ended in a 35-35 tie. 

In the second half after falling behind by nine, Blackburn battled back to tie the game at 69-69 on an Elizabeth Morris layup. The Dawes gym was rocking with the support of a raucous student turnout.  The Beavers had one opportunity to take the lead but Ashanti Jones' twisting layup wouldn't go down.  The Sabercats then grabbed two offensive rebounds and converted with a Katelyn Brown layup with 34 seconds remaining.  The Beavers had a chance to take the lead with a three-pointer from Miley Kwiatkowski but it wouldn't fall.  Brown then made two free throws for the final score.

Jones had a great game leading the Beavers with 22 points.  The 1-2 punch of Brown who scored 35 and Kyria Teachout with 23 was too much to overcome.  For Blackburn, Kaidy Tuetken scored 12 points and Becca Benoit added nine points.

The game marked the return to Dawes Gym aka The Beaverdome for head coach Allen Dehority who was a former men's player at Blackburn.

The Sabercats out-rebounded Blackburn 49-44.  Blackburn had 24 turnovers to the Maranatha's 22.

The Beavers are now 1-2 on the season and will be back in the Dawes Gym on Saturday hosting Mount Mary.