Box Score
The Bruins women welcomed the Barber-Scotia College Sabers on Tuesday night to Greenville. The Bruins were riding a two-game winning streak after victories over Toccoa Falls and Truett-McConnell. The Sabers were winless coming into the game on Tuesday with a 0-5 record. The Bruins would look to use their up-tempo style to gain the advantage against the Sabers.
From the opening tip, the Bruins jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead after baskets by Kendra Jeffcott and Kim Spiecker. The team was able to get out and run and played great defense in forcing turnovers. The Bruins went on a 9-0 run to extend their lead in the first half.
Despite forcing turnovers, the Bruins shot a mere 15% from behind the arc in the first half, and the team struggled to score on the break. The Bruins were dealt another blow when guard Bre Bullard went down with an ankle injury. She did not return in the game. As the half came to a close, the Sabers used a 6-0 run to close the gap at the half 29-21 Bruins.
"We definitely wanted to run the floor tonight," Coach LeViere said. "We knew they had some problems getting back on defense and we looked to take advantage of that. We just need to be able to swing the ball and knock down our open shots."
In the second half, the Bruins began to increase their lead by forcing turnovers and making smarter decisions on offense. The team went on a 12-0 run in the middle of the second half, behind Jeffcott's points in the paint, and Spiecker's three-pointers from the outside. The Bruins extended their lead with three-straight possessions ending in three-point shots by Hannah Tompkins and two by Julia Wright.
The team forced 31 turnovers on the night and continued to keep the lead. As the buzzer sounded, the Bruins had won their third straight game with a 61-43 victory over Barber-Scotia.
"It wasn't the prettiest thing in the world but it is a victory," Coach LeViere said. "We're playing college basketball and we are winning. We all know we can play a whole lot better which is encouraging. We need to make better decisions with the ball and do a better job in the rebounding, but we're happy for the win. "
With the win, the Bruins improve to 4-1 on the season. Kendra Jeffcott had a monster game with 18 points and 17 rebounds. Kim Spiecker scored 12 points while shooting 50% from three-point range. Brianna Delaney was a great factor off the bench for the Bruins with 8 rebounds including 4 offensive rebounds.
The Bruins remain unbeaten at home, and will have a stretch of road games coming up on their schedule. Next up, the Bruins will travel to Due West, South Carolina for a matchup with Erskine College on Saturday.
