Women's Basketball Falls to Hot Shooting Pilots

(Mishawaka, IN)-- The Cleary Cougar women's basketball showed some grit and toughness to battle back into the game, but the Bethel Pilots used fourteen made three pointers to hand the Cougars a 67-59 defeat Saturday in Indiana.

The two teams traded baskets in the first quarter, but the Pilots would hold a three point lead after the first quarter.  Cleary would fight back to tie the game at 20-20, but the Pilots would finish the half on a run, going into the break leading 34-23.

The third quarter started off as a continuation of the second, and Bethel would expand their lead to 17, the largest for either team, with 3:08 to play in the quarter.  Cleary would fight back, once again, and cut the deficit to single-digits by the end of the quarter, trailing 50-42 with ten minutes to play.

Cleary would cut the lead to four after a Samantha Hoelscher layup with 4:57 to play, and after the two teams traded points, the deficit would remain at four with 3:33 to play.  A Bethel three with 2:40 to play would be the eventual dagger, as Cleary was unable to get over the hump in their comeback.

Mileisha Rodriguez led Cleary with 16 points and 7 rebounds, while Samantha Hoelscher added 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals off the bench.  Taedom Stein would chip in 11 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals.

Bethel went 14-33 from behind the arc in the game, compared to Cleary's 3-21.  Cleary held a 14-17 advantage from the free throw line, to Bethel's 3-7.  

Cleary is now 0-4 on the season, and will be back in action next Friday, November 8, when they travel to Rochester, Michigan to take on the NCAA D1 Oakland University Golden Grizzlies in an exhibition.  The game is set to begin at 11:00 AM.