Bedford Stings Hornets for Tie Atop SEC Red

The Saline girls' basketball team was handed its first conference loss of the season Friday night when Bedford took down the Hornets 37-29.

The loss dropped the Hornets into a tie with Bedford at 10-1 in the conference with three games remaining for each team.

It was a defensive battle from the start with the teams tied at seven after one quarter.

Bedford outscored Saline 11-5 in the second to take an 18-12 lead into the half.

Saline held tough in the third with triples by Taylor Kangas and Kate Stemmer but still trailed the Mules 27-23 after three.

Bedford led 30-23 when Stemmer and Hadley Griffin hit back-to-back triples to cut the Mules lead to 30-29, but Bedford answered with a triple with 1:30 left to push the lead back to four 33-29 and the Hornets would not score again as the Mules sealed the win at the line.

"They were 11/15 from the FT line while we were 1/4. The free throw discrepancy along with our shooting percentage proved to be the difference in the end," Coach Leigh Ann Roehm said.

Kangas led Saline with seven points, while Stemmer and Griffin each had six. Kadyn Maida added five points, Anna Hesse three, and Beth Ann Ford two. 

The Hornets had a tough road game at Dexter Tuesday in what will be a huge contest for Saline to try to stay on top of the SEC Red.