LINDSBORG - Kansas Wesleyan Women's Basketball outscored the Bethany Swedes 23-9 in the fourth quarter to rally and pull away for a 67-59 win on Saturday in the Kansas Conference opener for both teams at Hahn Gym.
It was the fourth straight win for the Coyotes who improved to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the KCAC, while Bethany slipped to 2-4 overall and 0-1 in the conference.
Wesleyan had big performances from Izzy McCool and Odessa Ozuna down the stretch as the duo combined for 14 of KWU's points in the last period while leading the charge back after the Coyotes trailed by six at the end of the third.
Keimara Marshall hit a pair of free throws to spark a 7-0 run for KWU to start the fourth quarter and gave the Coyotes a 51-50 lead on Anna Jueneman's bucket with 8:11 left.
The game was tied at 55 for almost two and a half minutes until Bethany scored with 4:29 left to take the lead. It was the last time the hosts would lead as Ozuna scored to tie it and then got a steal and bucket to give the Coyotes a 59-57 lead. McCool extended Wesleyan's lead to 61-57 with a bucket with 2:50 left.
Jueneman's bucket with 1:39 left put the Coyotes up six, effectively sealing the deal, and the Coyotes got free throws by Ozuna and McCool to finish it off.
The finish was much better than the start for the Coyotes who fell behind 9-2 to start the game, and got within three on McCool's free throw with 3:19 in the first to make it 11-8. Charley Baxter's bucket with 2:39 left got the Coyotes within a point, but KWU got no closer the rest of the quarter trailing 18-13 after one.
Bethany led 20-13 to start the second, but the Coyotes scored nine straight to take a 22-20 lead on Ozuna's bucket with 6:38 left in the half.
A steal and layup by Jueneman put the Coyotes up four at 27-23 with 5:28 left but Bethany would come back and take a brief lead. Ozuna's 3-pointer with 41 seconds left in the half put the Coyotes up 33-30, but Bethany hit a 3-pointer just before the break to send the game into intermission tied.
The third quarter went back and forth with both teams leading. The Coyotes led 44-41 on Marshall's scored with 2:21 left in the quarter, but did not score again the rest of the period as Bethany used a 9-0 run to end the quarter and lead 50-44.
Ozuna scored 18 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for the Coyotes, while McCool had 15 points. Jueneman had 11 points and eight rebounds. KWU was 24 of 60 from the field for 40 percent.