Kansas Wesleyan Women's Basketball was tripped up by a hot shooting Tabor College Bluejays squad in a 77-61 decision on Saturday night inside Mabee Arena.
The Coyotes jumped out to a 3-0 lead to start the game, but Tabor would take a 6-5 lead halfway through the first quarter of action. Wesleyan tied it at 6 on a free throw by Alexis Dixon, but a 5-0 Tabor run gave the Bluejays an 11-5 lead with 2:54 left in the quarter.
The Bluejays led 19-14 after the first.
Tabor pushed its lead out to as many as 18 points in the second quarter at 40-22 with 1:03 left before the half, but Wesleyan found a little momentum scoring the final five points of the quarter to trim the difference to 40-27 at half time.
Wesleyan continued to chip away win the third quarter as a 3-pointer by Jill Stephens got the Coyotes back within nine thanks to a 7-0 run after Tabor opened the half with a 3. A 14-5 run by Tabor to close the quarter gave the Bluejays a 57-39 lead after three.
Tabor led by 20 in the fourth, at 61-41, but a 12-2 run by the Coyotes capped by a steal and bucket by LaMyah Ricks trimmed the lead back down to 10 at 63-53 with 4:40 to go.
The Bluejays would close the final four-plus minutes of the game outscoring the Coyotes by six to grab the 77-61 win.
Ricks led the Coyotes with 14 points, while freshman Brooke Strine, making her second start of the season scored 12 and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. Daijane Adams and Angel Lee each scored 10 as KWU was 21 of 57 shooting for 36.8 percent.
The Coyotes return to action on Wednesday, heading to York, Neb., to take on the York Panthers at 6 p.m. in the Freeman Center.