Friday night the Lady Bears traveled to take on NJCAA Division II Hesston College (Hesston, KS). Coming off their exhibition game against Panhandle State University (Goodwell, OK) earlier in the week, the Bears looked to continue to show improvement as they gear up for NCCAA Division II Southwest Region play and Midwest Christian College Conference matches.

The Larks came out in the first half with pressure defense and fast-paced offense. They shot over 50% from the floor in the early happenings of the game, but the Bears stayed close in spite of their struggles from free throw line. They found themselves down just 5 points, 34-39, midway through the contest. As the second half began, the Lark’s pressure defense proved too much as they pulled away and handed the Bears a 55-81 loss.

“I was happy with our execution in the first half, but we got rattled with their pressure early in the second half and the game got away from us,” said Head Coach Ryan Kendall. “We are also struggling from the free throw line which I believe is a very fixable problem. We’ve been getting there, we’ve just got to believe we’re going to make them when we do.”

The Bears were led by Junior Shandy Edenborough (Goodwell, OK) with 16 points and 8 rebounds, Junior RaeLyn Epp (Corn, OK) with 14 points and 3 assists, and Senior Morgan Stander (Omaha, NE) with 10 points.

Next up for the Lady Bears is a date with #3 Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College (Moore, OK) in Haviland, KS on Tuesday night at 5:00 PM CST before heading home for Thanksgiving Break.