Friday and Saturday saw Calvary Bible College (Belton, MO) and Ozark Christian College (Joplin, MO) come to Hockett Auditorium for a pair of Midwest Christian College Conference games.

Up first were the Lady Warriors from Calvary. The game was a tough one in the first half as both teams fought hard. After 20 minutes the Lady Bears held a 5 point lead, 32-27. The beginning of the second half was dominated by the Bears as they raced out to a 16 point lead. Then Calvary put on a press that really bothered the Bears and as time winded down, it was the Bear’s Sophomore ReaLyn Epp that connected from three to knot the game up at 60-60 and force overtime. The Lady Bears regrouped and outscored Calvary in overtime by four to win 68-64. Freshmen Mercedeez Bell had her best game of the year, leading the Lady Bears with 21 points. Senior Brandi Moral chipped in 16 points and Freshmen Mikeal Wilder also put in 15 points.

Head Coach Brad Lingafelter remarked, “First I want to give Calvary a ton of praise. They could have quit when we built the big lead but they just kept on coming back. I also think my team did a great job of regaining composure and closing the deal.”

On Saturday the Lady Bears faced a much improved Ozark Christian squad from a year ago. The game was neck and neck the whole way through. The Lady Ambassadors were able to outscore the Bears in the first half by a score of 42-37. The second half seemed to be a mere replica of the first half as the Lady Ambassadors once again out-scored the Bears in the second half 44-38 for a 86-75 win on the Bears’ home court. Moral led the Bears with 18 points while Epp and Freshman Brooke White contributed 16 and 15 points respectively. Following the game, Lingafelter loved the growth and improvement he has seen in his young squad but also noted that they need to keep pushing on.

This week the Bears will host Manhattan Christian College (Manhattan, KS) at 5:00 PM CST on Tuesday. They will travel to Moore, OK to take on Hillsdale Free Will Baptist on Thursday at 2:00 PM and then head north to Omaha, NE to play Grace University at 2:00 PM on Saturday.