Junior Susan Kies matched her career-high with 20 points to lead four Beavers in double figures, as the team overcame a 10-point first half deficit en route to a thrilling 67-64 non-conference home victory over Bethany Lutheran on Wednesday night.
Kies finished the game shooting 8-of-16 from the field, including 4-of-8 from downtown. She also grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists. Senior Tara Lehner turned in a season-high 11 points and grabbed eight boards, while Malarie Gilley also scored 11 points and grabbed three rebounds. Senior Brooke Wehle chipped in with 10 points of her own and also dished out three assists. Becca Pennington was held scoreless, but did dish out a career-best five assists.
As a team, BUV shot 39 percent overall, including 7-of-11 from downtown, and committed a season-low 10 turnovers.
It was a back-and-forth game early on with BVU clinging to a 13-11 lead. Bethany Lutheran then went on a 12-0 run to go in front 23-13 with under 12 minutes left in the first half. The Vikings continued to lead by that margin with six minutes left before the Beavers slowly crept back and got within 39-33 at the break.
A lay-up by Kies with four minutes gone by in the second half capped a 10-2 BVU run to start the second half, giving the team a narrow 43-41 advantage.
Neither team led by more than three until the Beavers, who were trailing 56-54, went on a 9-2 spurt to go up 63-58 with six minutes left. Kies came through in the clutch with a jumper less than a minute to play that extended the Beavers lead back to five and secured the win.
Buena Vista improves to 2-3 overall this season and will be back in action on Friday when it travels to Northwestern College (Minn.) for a 5:30pm contest.