Box Score
Each and every time the Bruin women step on the court, there is improvement. Despite four straight losses coming into Thursday’s game against the Emmanuel College Lions, the Bruins sought to take that next step towards their first win. Emmanuel College is one of the more notable programs in the NCCAA and was undefeated coming into their game against the Bruins. Led by long-time coach Mike Bona, the Lions have played tremendous defense, holding their first two opponents to an average of 47 points a game.
From the opening tip, the Bruins showed their improvements as the team was able to battle back and forth with the Lions throughout the opening minutes. Despite improvement, the Lions still were able to expose the Bruins in several areas, most notably with their suffocating defense which caused Bruin turnovers. The Bruins were still able to hang with the Lions as the teams were separated by just one point with minutes to go in the first half. The Lions made some baskets down the stretch and at the half, the Bruins were down 32-22.
“This is a very developed program” Coach LeViere said of Emmanuel College. “I thought our girls played great defense to limit their opportunities.”
As the second half began, the Bruins began to make a lot of mistakes on the offensive side of the ball as the team committed several turnovers which opened the opportunity for the Lions to extend their lead. Several times throughout the second half the Bruins would show flashes of brilliance, but overall the team was outmatched and outplayed by the stronger and more experienced Lions. As the final buzzer sounded, the Bruins had dropped their fifth straight game in a 70-41 loss.
“Their team executes very well on the offensive side of the ball,” Coach LeViere said. “They come off screens and their knowledge of where that other player was going to be really shows how well they are coached. Despite that I thought we took some big steps forward in this game.”
Kourtney Hoefler and Trisha Irving each had 11 points to lead the Bruins while Kendra Jeffcott added 10 boards in the game. With the loss the Bruins move to 0-5 on the season and will look to rebound as they travel to Toccoa Falls on Tuesday night.
