The Bruins women’s basketball team bested Johnson University in a 67-57 battle Thursday Nov. 19.

“I don’t want to take anything away from Johnson, because they are a well-coached team. I feel like we didn’t have a great night,” Coach Mike LeViere said. “I felt like we were a little flat tonight. We were [stagnating] on offense, and that forced us to change things up offensively. But I have to credit Johnson because they forced us into a lot of those changes.”

The Lady Bruins started off hot, jumping out to a five-point lead, but the Royals battled their way back, ending the first quarter at
17-17.

“We weren’t clicking very well offensively,” LeViere said. “I felt like we did some good things, but then we wouldn’t reward ourselves by finishing the play.”

The Lady Bruins fought hard in the second half, as freshmen Sarah Thomson and Bhrianna Jackson entered the game and made an impact. The team found themselves up 28-25 at the half.

LeViere made some adjustments, and the Lady Bruins came out hard in the second half.

Brianna Delaney showed strength to score the first five points of the half.

Johnson University, however, stayed in the game. The score at the end of the third quarter was 46-42.

Bhrianna Jackson and Sydney Bedsaul hit back-to-back threes to energize the team. Johnson University threatened to make a comeback, but several mental mistakes (including calling a timeout with none left) allowed the Lady Bruins to close it out.

“We definitely wanted to get off that losing train,” LeViere said. “Honestly, though the wins and losses count, I am more concerned with how we played. We know we weren’t really ‘us’ tonight, and we know we can do better. We obviously want to win, but we know we can do better and we can play better. Having said that, it was a good team effort, and we beat a good team tonight.”

The women’s basketball team was happy with the win, but look to play even better as their potential is through the roof.