Sunday, January 19, 2025
The Beloit Lady Trojans lost to the Southeast of Saline Lady Trojans, 66-31, Friday night.
With its second consecutive loss, Beloit falls to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the NCAA. The Lady Trojans were to host Republic County Tuesday, December 17. The Lady Buffaloes were 1-1 heading into their league opener.
On Friday, Kyiah Samuelson made two free throws and a basket to give Southeast an early 4-0 lead. The hosts extended the edge to 10-0 in the middle of the first quarter before a Beloit timeout.
Senior Cassandra Thompson made two free throws to cut the deficit to 10-2. She later made a basket and free throw.
Thompson’s second basket completed the 7-0 spurt that cut the gap to 10-7.
The recovery from a rough start could not be maintained, however. Beloit’s poor shooting (especially players other than Thompson) kept the visitors from making another run similar to this.
Beloit did keep pace with Southeast the remainder of the first, though. The hosts scored seven of the next 12 points to lead, 17-12, going to the second.
Two Southeast baskets early in the second extended the edge to 21-12. A Samuelson free throw later completed an 18-7 stretch, which pushed the lead to 28-14.
Senior Olivia Wright’s putback and a basket by Thompson sandwiched a Southeast trey; the hosts led, 31-18. Southeast answered with a 10-1 run that started its domination of the rest of the game.
Thompson’s bucket late in the half reduced the gap to 41-21 at the break.
The hosts outscored Beloit 9-4 to open the third quarter, extending the lead to 50-25.
Southeast scored six of the next 10 points to lead, 56-29, after three quarters.
In the fourth, Southeast increased the lead to more than 30 points to force a running clock. The hosts outscored Beloit, 10-2, in the final period to complete the rout.
Beloit Head Coach Keith Kresin said that Southeast’s remarkable start in the contest fueled the hosts' dominance.
“They came out like a rocket on fire,” he said.
Despite the humbling setback, Kresin looks for his team to move forward and learn from the experience.
“We’ve got to rebound from this,” he said. “We’ve got to build confidence.”
Beloit had its first opportunity to do just that Tuesday night against Republic County.
Thompson provided most of Beloit’s offense with 20 points.
In spite of the disappointing defeat, Coach Kresin does not believe that his team is far inferior to its opponent on this night.
“We’ve just got to get a little better,” he said.
Cassandra Thompson led the boards in scoring for Beloit with 20 points. Olivia Wright scored 4 points; McKenna Channell, Regan Cheney, and Landry Litton all 2 points each; Addison Budke 1 point.
