The Salina Journal

LINDSBORG -- It surely wasn't the same Bethany team that dropped 11 straight games.

Playing with an aggression that had been missing for most of the season, the Bethany women rose up and stunned Kansas Wesleyan 61-53 in a Kansas Conference contest Saturday in Hahn Gym.

It also marked Bethany's first win over the Coyotes since December 1, 2007 -- a slide that had reached nine games. It marked the first conference victory for the Swedes (1-9) and improved them to 4-17 overall.

The loss dropped the Coyotes into a three-way tie for third with Sterling and McPherson at 6-4. Wesleyan is 11-10 overall.

"It was a great team win for us," Bethany coach Jim Campion said. "We played a great game in all aspects, offensively and defensively and played extremely hard."

For a team that had struggled to score this season, save for Tasha Wagoner, Bethany had to get more from others. And in this one, Kendra Austin and Heather Eddings, a 6-foot sophomore, played pivotal roles.

In the first half, while the lead was bouncing back and forth -- there were 16 lead changes and six ties in the contest -- it was Austin who had the big effort. Known for her 3-point shooting, Austin changed her methodology and drove the ball inside.

"Coach Ferg (Bill Ferguson) came up to me at practice yesterday and told me 'I want you to get 10 points in the paint,' and I kind of made that my goal," Austin said.

Austin hit 6 of 11 shots from the floor, including her only 3-pointer, a 23-footer with 1:30 left that was the final dagger in the Coyotes' heart and stretched the lead to 58-51. Along with three free throws, Austin led Bethany with 16 points.

"It felt good and I was open," she said of her decisive long-range bomb.

Wesleyan's largest lead in either half was four points until Christian Cassity drained a 3 and drove the lane for a basket with 13:58 remaining that put the Coyotes in front 44-37.

Campion took a timeout to regroup his troops and whatever was said in the huddle paid huge dividends the rest of the way.

Wagoner, who was perfect at the foul line (8 for 8 in the second half), hit four free throws, Eddings a short jumper and with 8:05 on the clock, Tanya Garner hit a pull-up jumper off the secondary break to give Bethany its first lead of the second half, 47-46.

"Defensively, we didn't care if they shot outside," Wagoner said. "If they made a few, we'd rather have that than have them drive the paint."

Rhys Pihl broke the drought for the Coyotes with a drive at the 7:43 mark for KW's final lead. Eddings answered by scoring on an offensive rebound 13 seconds later to give the Swedes the lead for good.

In the time remaining, Tanya Garner scored Bethany's only field goal other than Austin's 3 as Wesleyan continually put Bethany at the foul line. Bethany responded by sinking 9 of 10 free throws in the final 4:21 to ice the game away.

"Bethany played extremely hard," Wesleyan coach Gordon Reimer said. "They played with extreme toughness and kept us from driving to the basket.

"We fouled too much and we couldn't hit our three-point shots."

Wesleyan, which was playing without Rebekah Bunde because of a knee injury, is just one of the problems confronting Reimer.

"We're just trying to piece a team together," he said.

Wagoner finished with 14 points and 10 boards, while Eddings contributed 10 points and nine rebounds.

Eddings, who has been foul prone, was removed from the starting lineup Saturday which produced the desired results.

"She gets in foul trouble early," Campion said, "so we decided to sit her out a little bit and then bring her off the bench and tonight it paid off."

Cassity led Wesleyan with 16 points, while Stephanie Frost added 11 and Pihl 10.

Neither team was particularly sharp shooting -- both were under 35 percent, -- but Bethany got to the foul line 22 times and converted 17 to 8 of 10 for the Coyotes.