The Lady Bears got back on the court after almost a month long break over Christmas. The team welcomed NCCAA Division I, Ecclesia College (Springdale, AR) on Friday and NCCAA Division II #1 ranked Arlington Baptist (Arlington, TX) on Saturday afternoon.

Friday night’s game started out like the first game back after a long break. The Bears struggled with shooting and turnovers and found themselves in a 25 point hole at halftime. With some renewed energy in the second half, the Bears cut the lead to 6 twice, but Ecclesia hit their free throws down the stretch and ended up with a 52-67 win. The Bears were led by Junior Shandy Edenborough (Goodwell, OK) with 17 points and 10 rebounds followed by 12 points from Freshman Brittany McDowell (Fowler, KS), 11 from Junior RaeLyn Epp (Corn, OK), 8 from Senior Kaylee Kershner (Great Bend, KS) and 4 from Senior Morgan Stander (Omaha, NE).

Saturday afternoon the Bears took on Arlington Baptist, the #1 team in the country at the NCCAA DII level. The Bears struggled with the Patriots full court pressure during the first half in addition to having another poor shooting first half.  The second half proved better as the Bears were able to keep pace, but the first half hole was too big to climb out of and they fell 51-97. All eight Bears scored as they were led again by Edenborough’s 12 points and Sharese Mullikin chipped in 10 points.

“The girls fought hard for 40 minutes both games. They don’t let the score dictate whether they keep playing hard or not and that’s a great quality to have. It was good to see them continue to work together especially on Saturday and for everyone to get in the books, ” said Head Coach Ryan Kendall.

The Bears play University of Ozarks (Clarksville, AR) on Tuesday, January 13 and travel to Moore, Oklahoma next Tuesday, January 20^th to play powerhouse, Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College before they start Midwest Christian College Conference play on January 23-24.