ALBION, Mich. – Albion College's backcourt duo of Brett de Bear and Taylor Nugent combined for 40 points to lead the Britons to a 61-51 victory over the University of Michigan-Dearborn in non-league women's basketball action inside Kresge Gymnasium.
The Britons trailed 16-6 early, but de Bear, Nugent, and Katie Thompson carried the load on an 11-1 run that knotted the score at 17 with a shade less than nine minutes remaining in the first half. Thompson scored five of her nine points in the game on a couple of baskets and a free throw, and Nugent buried a three-point shot to tie the score.
The de Bear, Nugent, and Thompson combination produced a six-point run as Albion took the lead for the first time, 24-22, with five minutes left in the first half. The Britons went on to hold a 34-28 lead at halftime.
de Bear scored a pair of baskets as part of a 6-0 run as Albion extended the lead to nine early in the second half. Albion led by as many as 13 before settling for the 10-point win.
de Bear's 30 points was a career-high. She connected on 11-of-18 shots from the field and on 8-of-10 from the line. Nugent, who sat on the bench for a considerable stretch of the first half after taking a charge, contributed 10 points.
Albion, winners of two in a row, returns to action Dec. 28-29 with games in the Charles B. Zimmerman Memorial Classic in Springfield, Ohio.