Lady Swedes surprise Tabor in first round
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Beating a team three times is hardly an easy task.
While the Lady Bluejays have had their way with most teams in the KCAC, their luck hasn't been too hot against the Bethany Lady Swedes.
Sure Tabor (24-5, 17-2) swept the regular season series against Bethany, but the games could have gone the other way.
The third time proved to be a charm for the Swedes Thursday night in Hillsboro in the first round of the KCAC tournament, snapping Tabor's 19-game winning streak.
Looking to win the KCAC outright after capturing their first league title during the regular season, the Bluejays stubbed their toes, 54-47.
"Just so many times we executed so poorly, we made so many bad decisions and shots," said a humbled Bluejay coach Rusty Allen. "We didn't move with the ball and we didn't move without the ball.
"There's been a lot of hints of this type of thing with our team off and on, and tonight, it caught up with us."
Tabor didn't have that trouble in the game's first 4:30, taking a 9-4 lead during a 7-0 spurt.
But the Swedes pressure defense has given the Bluejays headaches this season, and it turned into a migraine Thursday with Tabor turning the ball over 13 times the first half and 25 for the game.
Struggling the first two games against the Bluejays, the Swedes' Katelyn Hinkin and Kenyada Frazier broke out when Bethany needed it most.
Hinkin dropped a game-high 19 points on Tabor while Frazier added 13 while pulling down a game-high 17 rebounds.
Frazier's nine offense rebounds were huge in the Swedes outdoing the Bluejays 45-39 in rebounding and 21-10 offensively, a stat glaring to Allen.
The Swedes duo supplied all 10 of Bethany's unanswered points that lead to a 14-9 lead with just under 12:00 to go in the first half.
A Hinkin triple put Tabor down as many as six before the Bluejays knotted the game at 17-17 on a Nicole Ellis fastbreak.
The Swedes press kept Tabor battling uphill, though, and it went into the break down 26-24.
"In the first half, their press really took us out of what we were trying to accomplish," said Allen. "I thought we ran past their press pretty effectively the second half, but we still didn't execute and we made a lot of poor decisions with the ball."
What kept Tabor in the game was the defense, harassing Bethany into just 29 percent shooting on the night and 23 the second half.
Baskets by Jill Hein and Erica Hemmert tied the score twice in the opening 2:00 of the second half, but Bethany jumped in front 40-35 with 8:48 left.
Donya Anderson scored a team-high 12 points and 11 rebounds, fueling a 9-0 run for the Bluejays that give them their first lead since the 14:39 mark in the first half.
Anderson's basket that made it a 45-40 game with 5:12 remaining was the last shot Tabor could get to fall for nearly 4:00.
While 14 of 22 at the foul line won't normally bring good results in close games, it was enough the second half to keep the Swedes extending their lead.
Frazier drained a pair with 2:57 left to put the Bluejays down for good.
Despite Staci Herman's basket with :27 to go, Tabor still needed two possessions for a win.
Tabor finished the game hitting 38 percent from the floor and a blustery 2 of 13 from outside.
"I tip my hat to Bethany," Allen said. "They played with a lot of intensity and there was no doubt in their minds they could beat us.
"They (Bluejays) all agreed it (loss) was a blessing in disguise. There were things we had become complacent about and tonight they bit us."
The Bluejays travel March 9 to Sioux City, Iowa, for their first NAIA National Tournament trip in 13 years to face an opponent yet to be named.
