Bruins spoil Doane’s home-opener, 80-74

CRETE, Neb. -- Ashtyn Arnold and Zakiyyah Muhammad both posted double-doubles to lead the Bellevue University women's basketball team to an 80-74 win at Doane University on Friday evening.

The Bruins even their record at 2-2 while Doane begins the year 0-1.

The Bruins struggled to take care of the ball in the opening quarter, turning it over eight times. Despite that, the Bruins shot well from the floor, hitting on 7-of-13 field goal attempts and were tied 20-20 at the end of the quarter. Gabby Moore led all players with seven points in the opening period.

Bellevue dominated the second quarter, shooting 62.5 percent from the floor in the quarter to out-score Doane 26-16. Delaney VanBlaricon drained a couple three-pointers and BU hit four trifectas in the period.

Mak Hatcliff buried a deep three-pointer at the 6:53 mark to tie the game at 27-all before the Bruins went on a 19-9 run to close the half. Moore hit a step back jumper in the waning seconds as the Bruins took a 46-36 lead into the locker room.

Moore totaled 13 to lead all scorers in the first half while VanBlaricon (8), Brandi Dunn (7), and Zakiyyah Muhammad (6) combined for 21 in the first 20 minutes Hatcliff led the Tigers with 10 in the first half.

Both teams shot 50% from deep in the first half but Bellevue hit at a 59% clip overall to Doane's 41% effort from the floor. Free throws were a bit of a struggle for both sides with BU going 6-of-12 at the charity stripe and Doane shooting just 5-of-8.

Moore hit a three to grow the Bruin lead to 12 early in the third quarter before Doane engineered a 9-0 scoring run to cut the deficit to three, 51-48. Muhammad finally slowed some of the momentum hitting a free throw following an offensive rebound. A Doane turnover and a breakaway layup from Ashtyn Arnold pushed the Bruin lead back to six, 54-48.

The Bruins struggled to just 4-of-13 shooting in the third quarter as Doane looked to pull to within a single possession entering the fourth quarter. Moore, however, beat the buzzer with a driving layup to give BU a 57-52 lead after three.

Doane kicked off the fourth quarter by scoring seven of the first nine points of the period with Hatcliff tying the game on a deep three. Bellevue immediately answered with Muhammad scoring on a put-back to notch her first career double-double.

Five-straight points from Arnold pushed the Bruin lead back to five points with 6:13 to play. Doane and BU traded blows down the stretch before Kaylee Denker and Arnold combined to hit on 3-of-4 free throws in the span of 0.9 seconds to take seven-point lead with 21.3 seconds remaining.

BU shot 47% from the floor in the game to Doane's 37% and hit on 18-of-28 free throws for a 63% rate. Doane shot just 59% from line. Bellevue received a season-high 24 points off the bench on the night.

The Bruins finished +9 on the glass (43-34) and overcame a -8 in the turnover battle (21-13).

Arnold finished with a game-high 21 points to go along with 10 rebounds, one of two Bruins - along with Muhammad (10 points, 12 rebounds) - to record a double-double. They were joined in double figures by Moore (18), Dunn (11), and VanBlaricon (10).

Hatcliff led four Tigers in double figures with 18 points but finished just 4-of-14 from the floor. Macy Holtz added 16, Rylie Rice dropped in 12, and Maddi Portwine contributed 11 in the loss.

Bellevue travels to Oklahoma City next week for a pair of games at the MACU Classic. The Bruins face Mid-America Christian on Friday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. before facing John Brown on Saturday, Nov. 11 at noon.