Box Score
The Lady Bruins welcomed the Pensacola Christian College Eagles to Greenville on Friday night. The two teams split the season series 1-1 last season with both games coming down to the wire. The Bruins have been hot as of late winning three of their last four games while sitting at 13-5 on the season. The Eagles entered the game with a four-game winning streak of their own. The stage was set as the rivalry entered a new chapter between these sister institutions. 

In the opening minutes, both teams played relatively conservative with the first points coming just over three minutes into the game. Eventually the Bruins worked into a rhythm as Kendra Jeffcott was able to drive through the lane and open things on the outside for Kim Spiecker. The Bruins worked gained a 17-7 lead before the Eagles began to claw their way back into the game. The defense for the Bruins was superb as the team forced turnovers and tough shots for the Eagles offense.

With less than a minute remaining, the Bruins had a 26-19 lead but were outscored 4-0 in the final minute as Pensacola fought back to make the score 26-23 at the half. 

"The intensity is always going to be there when we play this team," Coach LeViere said. "They have a really good young team. We knew they were going to be up for this game with the rivalry. We got really sloppy with the ball and let them back into the game."

In the second half, the Bruins used their halftime adjustments and came out strong as Kourtney Hoefler finished a three point play in the opening seconds to increase the lead. The Eagles responded by going to the press which proved to be difficult for the Bruins to overcome. After a timeout, the Bruins had three straight possessions end in layups as the team cut through the press for easy baskets. 

"We had some personnel issues which didn't allow us to execute against the press," Coach LeViere said. "With Trisha and Kendra not in the game our chemistry was off a little but they figured it out." 

The Bruins up-tempo play allowed them to spread the Eagles defense and find Kourtney Hoelfer on the block for points. Hoelfer also spear-headed a dominant rebounding performance for the Bruins with 16 rebounds in the game. As the half wore on, the Bruins lead continued to grow into double digits. When the final buzzer sounded, the team had won their third straight game with a 58-41 victory. 

"We had great fans out there tonight. It is really nice to play at home and this win was a lot of fun," Coach LeViere said. "We wished we could have played a little better for them, but we played great defense and got a double digit victory so we'll take that."   

Kim Spiecker led the Bruins with 19 points and Kourtney Hoefler had 12 coupled with 16 rebounds. The team shot 54% from three and 43% for the game. The Bruins also dominated the rebounding battle winning 51-38 over the Eagles. With the win, the Bruins improve to 14-5 on the season. Next up, the team will welcome Wesleyan University to Greenville on Tuesday night.