Box Score
The Lady Bruins were on the road Tuesday night as they battled conference-opponent Southern Wesleyan University. The two teams had met a few weeks ago in Greenville, with the Bruins falling in a close game 72-63. The Bruins had rebounded well after the loss with back-to-back wins over Warren Wilson College. The Warriors of Southern Wesleyan were 10-12 coming into the game, and were coming off a 70-64 win on Monday night.
In the opening minutes, the Bruins looked to avenge their loss by jumping out to an early 8-4 lead. The team was able to rely on the scoring touch of Kendra Jeffcott, who scored the Bruins first six points. The Warriors fought back with an 11-0 run to take the lead. The Bruins had difficulty stopping the Warriors outside shooting as Southern Wesleyan shot 56% from beyond the arc in the first half. The Bruins clawed their way back to within 7 points, but a Southern Wesleyan 7-0 run to end the half gave the Bruins a daunting lead to overcome 40-26 at the break.
"They are a good team and you have to play well to be in the game," Coach LeViere said. "Felt like we had very few players show up to play hard and they took advantage of that. We didn't knock down shots and didn't play good defense."
In the second half, the Warriors continued to score at will as the Bruins tried everything to stop them. The Warriors continued to dominate the tempo of the game and capitalized on their opportunities. A layup basket by Cayse Branyon extended the lead to 66-36 and the Warriors never looked back as the final buzzer handed the Bruins a tough 80-54 loss on the road.
"Was disappointed in us as a whole tonight," Coach LeViere said. "My coaching wasn't what it should be. I didn't have them prepared to play and didn't use our timeouts wisely. Top to bottom this wasn't a game to remember."
Kendra Jeffcott led the Bruins with 19 points and 7 rebounds, while Breezy Delaney chipped in 10 points and 7 rebounds off the bench. The Bruins committed 22 costly turnovers which translated to 25 points for the Warriors. With the loss, the Bruins fall to 18-8 on the season. Next up, the Bruins will play the second of their two-game road trip on Friday night as they travel to Johnson University in Tennessee.
