Box Score
The Lady Bruins welcomed the Southern Wesleyan University Warriors on Tuesday night to the Davis Field House. The Bruins were coming off a 75-54 loss in their first home game against Emmanuel and were looking to get back on track. The Warriors entered the night at 2-5 after an emotional overtime win on Saturday night.
As the game began, the Bruins struggled to find any baskets as the team went the first three minutes scoreless. The Warriors countered by jumping out to an early lead behind impressive shooting by Lauren Johnson. The Warriors also got great play from Ashley Cooper in the post as she battled the Bruins in the paint with 14 points on the night. Eventually the Bruins would work the deficit back to less than five points. Each time they made a run, the Warriors' Lauren Johnson would knock down a shot to put the Warriors back on top. The Bruins continued to struggle with turnovers as the team wasn't able to execute effectively in the offensive end. The buzzer sounded leaving the Bruins trailing 19-33 at the half.
"The turnovers got us again tonight," Coach LeViere said. "Anytime you turn the ball over that many times you are going to have problems."
The Bruins came out in the second half, and continued to have trouble finishing their offensive possessions. Despite good shooting all around, the Bruins committed 30 turnovers giving the Warriors several easy layups in transition. As the game wore on, the Warriors were up by as many as 17 in the 2nd half. The Bruins refused to give up and cut the lead to 9 at one point before the Warriors put the game away. As the final buzzer sounded, the Bruins had suffered their second straight loss in a 72-51 defeat.
"We showed a lot of character tonight," Coach LeViere said. "We were down several times and each time the girls were able to fight their way back into the game. I am proud of our effort."
Kourtney Hoefler (14 points and 13 rebounds) and Kendra Jeffcott (10 points and 12 rebounds) each had a double-double on the night for the Bruins. Kim Spiecker added 14 points in the game. The Bruins fought hard against a resilient Warrior team but in the end, they fell just short.
Up next, the Bruins will play host to Columbia College on Friday night at 7:30.
