Freshman Lexi Fisher (Glenwood, Iowa/Glenwood) turned in a career-high 20 points off the bench, while junior Susan Kies (Fonda, Iowa/Newell-Fonda) matched a career-best with 20 more, to help lead the Buena Vista women's basketball team to a convincing 68-34 victory over visiting Northland College on Friday night during the BVU Classic. The game was also the home opener for BVU.
Fisher had the hot hand from the opening tip, connecting on 8-of-10 shots from the field overall, including four three-pointers. She also grabbed five rebounds and dished out a pair of assists. Kies, meanwhile, went 3-of-9 from long range and 8-of-15 overall, to go along with a pair of assists and three steals. She now has 82 career three-point makes, moving her past Kelli Staley into 12th on the program's all-time list.
Senior Brooke Wehle (Denison, Iowa/Denison-Schleswig) chipped in with nine points, while dishing out a team-high five assists and recording a team-leading four steals. Fellow senior Tara Lehner (Le Mars, Iowa/Le Mars) chimed in with a team-high nine rebounds with junior Malarie Gilley (Grand Junction, Iowa/East Greene) adding eight boards and two blocks.
Gilley keeps working her way up the leader board and now has 33 career blocks, moving her into a tie for 12th on the program's all-time list.
The Beavers, despite shooting only 32 percent from the field in the first half, took a 29-18 lead into the locker room. The team came out in the second half and scored seven points less than two minutes into the period and went on to shoot better than 55 percent in the half. It pushed the lead up to 21 on a pair of Wehle free-throws five minutes in and led by as many as 36.
Defensively, the Beavers out-rebounded the LumberJills, 46-27, and held them to under 29 percent shooting.
Sam Stanfield and Stephanie Wilkinson paced Northland offensively with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
With the win, BVU improves to 1-2 on the year and also gives head coach Janet Berry her 320th career victory. The team will now wrap up play on Saturday against Gustavus Adolphus at 3:00pm. The Gusties (0-1) fell to Simpson College, 67-45, in Friday's early game.