NORTH NEWTON, Kan. – The Kansas Wesleyan Women's Basketball team got back on the winning track with a 61-52 win over the Bethel Threshers on Thursday night at Thresher Gym in North Newton. Wesleyan shot 52.8 percent in the second half, while holding off several charges by the Threshers en route to the nine-point win.

"It's just really good to get a win," Wesleyan head coach Gordon Reimer said. "I thought the second half offensively we were much better. For some reason this bunch is so impatient offensively, they think they've got to make a play on the first or second pass. We went to our zone offense against their man and that's what was really the difference. We were getting some really good shots out of that."

Wesleyan bolted out to a 9-2 lead with 17:19 to go in the half on a three by Vanessa Kresin, and later pushed its lead to 11 points at 17-6 with 13:07 to go on Stephanie Frost's bucket. The Coyotes were able to keep Bethel at arm's length never letting them get closer than seven points the remainder of the half when Payton Walker hit a three with 4:36 to go in the half to make it 21-14.

The Coyotes would score the final four points of the half, the final points coming on Kresin's free throws with seven seconds left to send Wesleyan into the half up 25-14. Bethel shot a dismal 4-of-22 from the field for 18.2 percent.

Bethel got a three-point play from Chelsea Harris to get within nine at 32-23 with 16:04 to go in the second half, but back-to-back triples by Montric Santee and Christian Cassity, followed by another Cassity bucket and a pair of free throws by Cassity ballooned Wesleyan's lead to 19, 42-23, with 13:43 to go.

The Threshers made a run at the Coyotes, over the next ten minutes, outscoring Wesleyan 24-10 to get within five points at 52-47 with 3:30 to go in the game. Back came the Coyotes, getting a bucket by Frost and a driving score by Shelby Babcock to take a nine point lead with 2:59 to go.

Wesleyan pushed its lead back out to 12 points with 39 seconds left on a bucket by Babcock that was assisted by Rhys Pihl before Bethel's Spencer Suderman hit a three with eight ticks left to get the final score of 61-52 in favor of the Coyotes.

The Coyotes were paced by three players with 10 points each in Frost, Santee and Cassity as Wesleyan shot 39.6 percent from the field for the game after going 8-of-27 (29.6 percent) in the first half. Kresin led the Coyotes in rebounding with 11.

Bethel had 11 from Harris as the Threshers shot 20-of-55 from the field for 36.4 percent in the game. Harris also led Bethel with six rebounds.

The Coyotes are back at home on Saturday as they host Tabor College.