INDIANAPOLIS - It's not often you see a great college basketball game, but Wednesday night's contest at the Physical Education Center was an outstanding game.

 

The Marian College women's basketball team left everything on the court, but the No. 16-ranked Bethel College Pilots were able to hold off the Knights, 77-72, to send the Knights to an 18-9 overall record and a 6-7 mark in Mid-Central College Conference play.

 

The Knights broke out early on the Pilots as they hit their first six shots from the field to open an 11-point lead, 18-7, with 12:11 to go in the first half. However, the Pilots outscored the Knights 19-8 over the next 7:25 to tie the game, 24-24, with 4:46 to go. It was at this point a spectator must have realized it was going to be a great game.

 

A three-pointer put Bethel in front, but the Knights went on a 5-0 run to retake a two-point lead before Bethel knotted the score, 29-29, with 3:02 to go in the half. The teams traded blows the rest of the way with the Knights nailing the last bucket to take a 37-35 lead into the locker room.

 

The Knights shot a blistering 64 percent (14-for-22) from the field in the first half and held Bethel to just 39 percent (13-for-33).

 

The Pilots came out hot in the second half as they went on a 9-0 run to stake themselves a 44-37 lead with 18:15 to go. The Knights cut it back to three, 44-41, with 17:07 to go, but Bethel was able to push it back to seven, 48-41, with 16:19 remaining.

 

The Knights were able to cut the lead to one, 55-54, with 9:32 remaining, but Bethel went on a 6-0 run to take a 61-54 lead with 8:17 to go.

 

The Knights fought back one more time by outscoring the Pilots 15-7 over the next 4:56 to take a one-point lead, 69-68, with 3:21 to go. However, the Knights were outscored 9-3 over the final 3:21 to secure the 77-72 win.

 

The Knights were outshot from the field by the Pilots in the second half, but finished 27-for-53 (51 percent) for the game including 6-for-12 (50 percent) from beyond-the-arc.

 

However, the Knights were outrebounded on the offensive end, 15-11, which led to 15 second-chance points for the Pilots. The Pilots also capitalized on 22 Marian College turnovers to the tune of 24 points.

 

Junior Megan Egenolf (Plainfield, Indiana/Plainfield) led three Knights in double figures with 17 points and finished 7-for-8 from the field including a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range. She also added three rebounds, three assists, and two steals for the Knights.

 

Fifth-year senior Whitney Frame (Lynn, Indiana/Randolph Southern) tallied 16 points, grabbed three boards, handed out four assists, and finished with three steals in 36 minutes.

 

Junior Kristin Houck (Brownsburg, Indiana/Brownsburg) also finished with 10 points, three rebounds, and three assists. Junior Molly Lauck (Greenwood, Indiana/Center Grove) finished with nine points and five rebounds in one of her stronger performances of the season.

 

Senior Jessica Carr (New Castle, Indiana/New Castle) finished just one point and two rebounds shy of another double-double as she hit for nine points and grabbed eight boards.

 

The Knights hit the road on Saturday when they head to No. 22-ranked Indiana Wesleyan at Luckey Arena in Marion, Indiana. The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. tip.