Box Score After opening the 2015 season with a win, the Lady Bruins basketball team allowed a late comeback by Point University as the team fell 69-66 on Saturday afternoon. "This was a great game for us to have so early on in the season," Coach Mike LeViere said. "We will learn from this and be a much better team for it. Although we lost, we have a lot of positives to take from this one."
The Bruins took the court for their 2nd straight road game as they battled the Point University Skyhawks. The teams were playing on the second day of the Point University Invitational tournament.
Despite scoring the first points of the game, the Bruins allowed the Skyhawks to jump out to an early 15-2 lead. The Bruins slowly began to claw their way back into the game by driving through the lane and getting to the free throw line. Kendra Jeffcott cut the lead to five, but the Skyhawks closed out the quarter strong to maintain the lead 21-14.
In the second quarter, Bhrianna Jackson and Julia Wright knocked down back to back baskets but the Skyhawks matched the Bruins point for point to keep the lead. Brianna Delaney went to work on the post as she helped the Bruins tie the game at 24-24. Delaney continued to be a dominant force in the post for the Bruins as she finished the night with 22 points and 9 rebounds. As the halftime buzzer sounded, the Bruins had battled back to take a 35-33 lead.
As the Bruins came back out of the locker room, they knew the Skyhawks were going to ride the momentum of the home crowd. The Bruins came out strong in the opening minutes as they continued to lean on Delaney's post presence while Maggi Ford provided a spark to help the Bruins gain their largest lead of the day 41-35. From there, the Skyhawks battled back to within two. The Bruins then went on a 9-0 run to gain their largest lead of the day 50-39, but the Skyhawks closed out the quarter strong to cut into the deficit as the Bruins held a slim 50-47 lead.
In the final quarter, both teams knew it would go down to the wire as each possession became that much more important. Delaney continued to provide solid post play inside and the tandem of Jackson, Ford and Wright were able to knock down outside shots to keep the lead. On the ensuing possessions, Skyhawks guard Dereese Owens knocked down a three to cut the Bruins lead to 63-62. Owens buried another three-point bomb on the next possession to give the Skyhawks the lead with just a minute and a half to go. The Bruins tried to find the answer, but several missed opportunities allowed the Skyhawks to steal a 69-66 victory at home.
"We had them where we wanted them and it just came down to a possession here or there at the end of the game and we just didn't finish it," Coach LeViere said.
Brianna Delaney led the Bruins with 22 points and 9 rebounds while Julia Wright scored 17, Kendra Jeffcott chipped in 12 and Bhrianna Jackson scored 10. The Bruins were an impressive 17-18 from the free throw line in the first half, but the team didn't record one free throw shot throughout the entire second half. The Bruins won the rebounding battle with a 40-31 margin and fall to 1-1 on the season. Next up, the Bruins will be on the road at Truett-McConnell College on Tuesday night.
