When the Bethany Lutheran women’s basketball team went into halftime facing a double-digit deficit against Wisconsin-Superior Tuesday, the Vikings still had hope.

Cornell had faced the same type of deficit against Bethany on Saturday and came back to win. If it worked for Cornell, it could work for Bethany, right?

Perhaps, but not on Tuesday. The Vikings could not get any shots to fall from the beginning of the second half while Superior couldn’t miss. Poor shooting doomed Bethany as the Vikings dropped an 83-59 nonconference decision at the Bethany Sports and Fitness Center.

“Our shooting was pretty bad, that was a killer,” Bethany coach Tiffany Young Klockziem said. “Offensively we just went cold. We have different people stepping up every night so hopefully we get used to each other.”

The flow of the game went back-and-forth until the midway point when the Vikings held their biggest lead at 22-18.

“We were moving the ball well on offense and talking on defense,” Young Klockziem said.

But the lead didn’t last long. The Yellowjackets went on a 13-3 run and built a 13-point lead going into the break. Still, neither the run nor the halftime deficit seemed to derail Bethany’s confidence.

“We went into the locker room with the mentality that it was only 13 points, and that’s nothing in college,” said Bethany senior guard Lindsey Kahle, who finished with a game-high 17 points.

Kahle led the Vikings out of the break, scoring the first points of the second half on a 3-pointer just 16 seconds in to cut the Superior lead to 10.

But hurried, undisciplined shots and Superior’s good quick fast break play led to a 24-7 run as the Yellowjackets coasted through the second half.

The Vikings shot only 24.2 percent from the field in the second half and 33.3 percent for the game. Bethany also turned the ball over 29 times.

“We need to find more rhythm but we were down,” Kahle said. “Once we find that rhythm and flow we’ll find better outside shots. They weren’t falling for us tonight.”

The Vikings (0-2) face Marian (Ind.) in the Lakeshore Tip-off at 6 p.m., Saturday in Manitowoc, Wis.

Gossen comes home

Former Mankato East player Nikki Gossen came off the bench five minutes into the game for Superior. She finished with two points to go with her four rebounds, two blocks and two assists for the Yellowjackets.