SURPRISE, Ariz. - The Ottawa University Arizona women's basketball team fell on Thursday evening to the Rocky Mountain College Battlin Bears by a final of 63-50 at Willow Canyon High School in Surprise.

"This evening we faced another good team in RMC," said Head Coach Milee Karre. He continued, "Their size is similar to a D1 roster and gave us some trouble. We executed our defensive plan pretty well and forced them to play zone defense because of how patient we were able to stay on offense. When we cut down the lead to eight, a turnover here and a rebound there makes the difference against good teams."

In the first half the Rocky Mountain College Bears took control of the game, pushing to create a substantial lead. The OUAZ Spirit struggled to get on the board early in the first quarter, but during a timeout, the Spirit were able to re-group and come back to go on a run and score seven of their eight points holding the Bears to 14 for the quarter. The second quarter began with another charge from the Bears, but the Spirit worked hard to stay within striking distance as both teams headed into the second half. The first half ended with the Bears up 32-19.

In the third quarter, the Spirit and the Bears scored evenly. The Spirit playing good defense to keep the Bears from widening the gap. But at the end of the third, Rocky Mountain made a big push to extend the deficit to 18 points. The Spirit fought back in the fourth quarter to close that gap to 13, rebounding better in the second half and working together to infiltrate the Bear's defense and keep themselves in this game.

 
 
About Ottawa University
Founded in 1865, Ottawa University prepares professional and liberal arts graduates for lifetimes of personal significance, vocational fulfillment and service to God and humanity within a Christ-inspired community of grace and open inquiry. Ottawa University is a comprehensive, not-for-profit educational institution serving 3,000 students through its residential campuses in Ottawa, Kan., and Surprise, Ariz., and adult campuses in Overland Park, Kan.; Phoenix, Queen Creek and Surprise, Ariz.; Brookfield, Wis.; Jeffersonville, Ind.; as well as online. For more information, visit www.ottawa.edu. 
 
For more information about OUAZ athletics, visit http://www.ottawa.edu/ouaz/athletics. Follow OUAZ athletics on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/OUAZSpiritAthletics/ and on Twitter twitter.com/OUAZSpirit.