Clutch defense and strong bench leads to nail-biting 70-66 win over Bellevue

BELLEVUE, Neb. - Following a 10-day break from their last game, the Clarke University women's basketball team had to grind their way to a four-point win on the road over Bellevue University to begin their second semester of the 2021-22 season.

The Pride earned a 70-66 win and it was a 68-66 game with the Bruins in possession to tie or take the lead on two separate occasions with under 25 seconds remaining on the clock. Bellevue missed two driving layup attempts and a putback attempt to come up empty before Nicole McDermott sunk the final two free throws with one second left to put the game away.

"This was a good test for us," head coach Courtney Boyd said. "We battled through adversity, tough matchups, and foul trouble."

McDermott was the only starter to finish with double figures in points as she scored 10 on 4-of-9 shooting from the field and those final two free throws. The offensive production was more about the bench unit as the trio of substitutes in Hannah Ambrosy (17), Taylor Haase (10), and Mya Merschman (9) combined for over half of the team's scoring with 36 of the team's 70 points.

Ambrosy's 17 finished one short of the game-high as she went 6-of-9 from the field and 3-of-5 from three point range to add a much needed scoring spark for CU at multiple times in the game. Both Haase and Merschman finished shooting above 50 percent in the game as they only played 12 and 15 minutes respectively.

Despite the starting five having an off shooting performance, they all contributed for other stat categories as Tina Ubl finished a point short of a double-double with nine points and 12 rebounds, McDermott and Emma Kelchen both grabbed seven rebounds with Kelchen adding four assists, Izzie Peterson dished out five assists, and Giana Michels recorded four steals.

The Bruins duo of Asha Scott and Elexis Martinez tied for the game-high with 18 points as both had opportunities to tie the game in the late moments but came up short on their layup attempts.

A minor note for the Pride in this game, it marked the 2021-22 debut of senior guard Skylar Culbertson as she returned from a wrist injury suffered in the preseason. She played eight minutes without taking a shot and recorded one assist in her return to the floor.

"Going into the second half of the season, every game is going to help us with details we will need going back into conference," Boyd said.

Clarke women's basketball will return to the floor tomorrow for their final game of the Bruin Classic when they play Mayville State University at 1 p.m. CT.