SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – The Spring Arbor University women’s basketball team clinched the fifth seed in the upcoming Crossroads League Tournament with a 65-62 win over Bethel College in the regular season finale on Saturday.
Bethel (12-18, 7-11 CL) grabbed a one point lead with less than a minute to go, but junior Kylie Townsley answered with the go-ahead jumper. Following a pair of clutch free throws from sophomore Autumn Goggin, Townsley sealed the victory by blocking the Pilots’ potential game-tying shot at the buzzer.
Prior to the contest, the Cougars honored senior Jessica Mabry, who was playing in the final home game of her career.
Spring Arbor started hot opening a 12-6 lead after the first quarter, and pushing its advantage to nine, 17-8, early in the second. However, Bethel came storming back with a 19-4 run to jump in front. With the Cougars trailing by six and 1:53 left in the period, junior Aimee Konkel buried a three-pointer to spark a 7-0 scoring spurt, lifting SAU to a 28-27 lead at halftime.
The two sides went back and forth throughout the third and fourth quarters with no team ever leading by more than six. Spring Arbor held a three point lead in the final minutes of the fourth period, but Bethel’s Angelique Moore had a chance to even the score with an old-fashioned three-point play. Moore missed her free throw attempt that would have knotted the game, and the Cougars would make it hurt as Goggin knocked down a huge triple on the other end to boost the lead to four with 1:32 remaining.
The Pilots rallied for five straight points, though, to grab a late 62-61 edge, but the Cougars were not done. With 14 seconds remaining, Townsley would hit a clutch jumper to put SAU back on top. Following a BC turnover, the Pilots were forced to foul sending Goggin to the charity stripe. Bethel had one last chance in the final seconds, but Townsley rejected the potential game-tying three-point attempt to send the Cougars to their 16th win of the season.
Spring Arbor finished the game shooting 44 percent (26-for-59) while limiting Bethel to just 32 percent (24-for-74) from the field. The Cougars also held the edge on the glass, out-rebounding the Pilots 44-43.
Goggin netted a career-high 25 points to lead the way for the Cougars, who earned their highest finish in the conference standings in recent memory. Townsley posted her fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds while also adding four assists and three steals. Sophomore Faith Johnson also scored in double figures adding 10 points with six rebounds and four assists.
Spring Arbor (16-14, 8-10 CL) will open the Crossroads League Tournament with a quarterfinal match up against the University of Saint Francis (Ind.) (15-12, 11-7 CL) on Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m.