Courtesy of Midland Athletics
FREMONT, Neb. – Wednesday night saw the home and conference opener for Midland University inside the Wikert Event Center as it took on No. 12 Briar Cliff University. The Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) rivals went toe-to-toe through three quarters before the Chargers darted ahead for the 76-52 win. The loss drops the Warriors to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in the GPAC while BCU, who won the conference tournament a season ago, starts the GPAC slate 1-0 while improving to 5-0 overall.
After a quick 5-0 start by Briar Cliff in the opening minute, the defenses started to settle in. Midland held BCU scoreless for nearly four minutes while it climbed back to take a 6-5 lead at the midway point of the quarter. Gabby Beauperthuy and Jenna Weber each had a three-point field goal in the run.
In the back half of the opening quarter, the Warriors and Chargers traded scores. Tied at 9-9 with two minutes to go, Midland went on a 4-0 run. A made layup by BCU in the final seconds pulled them within a basket as the buzzer sounded, 13-11 in favor of the home team.
Briar Cliff came charging back in the second quarter. After a basket by Beauperthuy put MU up 15-12, the Chargers went on a 6-0 run to secure their first lead since early in the first. They would keep MU at arm’s length the rest of the quarter as they took a 27-23 lead into halftime.
Midland continued to battle Briar Cliff through the third, staying within striking distance throughout. With 7:16 to go in the quarter, the Warriors were within a point, 30-29, keeping the final outcome very much in doubt. BCU preceded to go on a 16-9 run to end the quarter to lead by six, 46-40.
In the final quarter, Briar Cliff’s offense continued to heat up as they hit 10 of 17 from the field including 4 from behind the arc as they outscored Midland 30-12. The Warriors had a scoring drought of nearly five minutes as the Chargers lead grew to 21 points with 2:40 to play.
Over the final two-plus minutes, scoring came to a standstill as both teams inserted their reserve players. Briar Cliff capped off its first GPAC win of the season, 76-52.
One of the deciding factors in the game was the Chargers’ ability to turn the Warriors over. BCU forced Midland in 23 turnovers which translated into 25 points.
“Briar Cliff did a really nice job of turning up the pressure. I didn’t think we responded very well,” commented head coach Shawn Gilbert. “It’s something we’ll work on. We haven’t really seen that type of pressure this year, so it was kind of an eye-opener. One thing with this team, as the year has gone on, we’ve really grown and gotten better each and every day. So, hopefully, this is a little bit of that. For three quarters we were pretty solid.”
Midland was led in scoring by Gabby Beauperthuy and Jenna Weber with 14 and 10 points, respectively. Beauperthuy added 12 rebounds for her third-straight double-double. Bailee Hart was second on the team in rebounds with nine. As a team, the Warriors outrebounded the Chargers 47 to 41.
“There’s a reason they’re 12th in the country and undefeated,” added Coach Gilbert. “They’re solid and have a lot of experience back. We’ve got the top two teams in the conference right away so we get to figure where we’re at immediately. I like this team and I like the way we’re going. We just got to continue to get better.”
Midland (2-3, 0-1 GPAC) will get its first look at the conference regular-season champions on Saturday when it travels up to face Dordt (6-0, 1-0 GPAC). The Defenders are ranked No. 2 in the NAIA Coaches’ Poll after finishing last year 30-4 with a trip to the Round of 16 at the national tournament. Tipoff in
