LINCOLN, Neb. (Feb. 18, 2026) - The Buena Vista women's basketball team used a 16-3 surge to begin the second half to break open what was a three-point halftime lead, and the Beavers never looked back en route to a strong 82-73 road win at Nebraska Wesleyan on Wednesday night inside of Snyder Arena.

Both teams came out and shot over 55 percent in the first quarter with a combined 16 made field goals and were deadlocked at 20-20 heading to the second. Each team cooled off a bit shooting wise in the second but junior Mary Walker was able to get a driving layup to fall just before the buzzer sounded to send the Beavers into the locker room with a 37-34 lead.

BVU heated up from long distance out of the gate to begin the second half and finished the quarter making 5-of-6 from behind the arc. Sophomore Tyme Boettcher nailed one just over a minute into play and that sparked a quick 10-0 run for the Beavers. Walker and sophomore Bradi Krager also tacked on a three-point bucket which later gave BVU a 15-point cushion with under five minutes left in the quarter. The team led by as many as 17 in the period and carried a 15-point margin into the start of the final quarter.

After a made bucket by the Prairie Wolves to begin the fourth, Buena Vista came right back with seven straight, including a big and-one bucket from Krager that gave the team its largest lead of the contest at 73-53. It remained a 16-point lead midway through before NWU rolled off five quick points to cut into the lead and make it 77-66 with 4:32 still to go. BVU was still in front by double digits with under two minutes remaining before a last surge by the Prairie Wolves got them as close as 80-73 with under 50 seconds left. Boettcher was then fouled and calmly went to the line and made a pair of free-throws to make it a nine-point advantage and NWU went empty on both shot attempts in the closing seconds as the Beavers go on and secure its highest single-season win total in a decade.

Walker led a balanced BVU scoring attack with 19 points, Krager followed with 18, Boettcher 14 and Yanga 12. BVU made 9-of-21 shots from long range with Walker leading the way with three. The Beavers owned the glass by out-rebounding NWU 40-27. Krager grabbed nine boards with Boettcher hauling in seven. Senior Danika Demers turned in an all-round productive night with six points, five rebounds  and five assists. Off the bench, senior Madalynn Hilgendorf chipped in with seven points, six rebounds and one steal.

Buena Vista shot 54.5 percent from the field overall with the one weak point coming at the charity stripe where it missed nine attempts (13-for-22). Nebraska Wesleyan (4-20, 1-14 A-R-C) shot a solid 46 percent from the floor but made only 27.3 percent from downtown (6-for-22).

Carney Black led all scorers with 30 points and also grabbed 11 rebounds.

The Beavers improve to 15-9 overall and 9-6 in league play. With losses on the night by both Luther and Simpson, the team is currently alone in third-place in the A-R-C standings with just one game to go. BVU is set to host Loras (9-15, 5-10 A-R-C) for Senior Day on Saturday afternoon for a 2 p.m. tip-off inside of Siebens Fieldhouse.