Box Score
For the second consecutive game, the Lady Bruins had a heartbreaking loss as the team fell to Converse College 80-79 on Friday night despite leading for almost the whole game. "Overall I thought we played a good game," Coach LeViere said. "We played a tougher opponent tonight and stayed in the game and really outplayed them for the vast majority of the game. We made some mistakes which eventually came back to bite us."

 

The Bruins were coming off a tough loss on Thursday night as the team lost a buzzer beater game to Reinhardt University 69-66. The team was looking to bounce back in a big way as they welcomed the Converse College Valkyries who were playing in their first game of the 2015-16 season. 

From the opening tip, the Bruins came out strong behind the play of Kendra Jeffcott to build a 9-5 lead. The Valkyries came storming back, but the Bruins then went on an 8-0 run to help close out the first quarter on top 26-20.

In the second quarter, Julia Wright swished a three-point shot to launch the Bruins offense into momentum as the team was firing on all cylinders. The Valkyries refused to go away and did just enough to keep the game close, but the Bruins continued to keep the lead. After Wright knocked down another three, the Bruins had a double-digit lead 39-29. The team continued to put up points as they shot 61% from the field and 50% from behind the arc to take a 53-39 lead into halftime. 

"We played like we had nothing to lose," Kendra Jeffcott said. "I wanted to have fun and the way we do that is by going all out and doing our best. I thought we had good communication on the floor and started out strong." 
 
In the second half, the Bruins came out looking to continue their great play, but the Valkyries started to chip away at the Bruins lead behind the scoring of Kelcee Dozier. Still, the Bruins continued to maintain the lead. After Brianna Delaney banked home a layup, the Bruins led 55-43. From there, the Valkyries went on a 9-0 run to cut into the lead. The Bruins responded by going on a run of their own to close out the quarter on top 66-57. 

As the final quarter, the Bruins looked to hang on for the win. Sha'Ron Brunson knocked home a three to give the Bruins another double-digit lead early on in the quarter. Then, the Valkyries went on a 13-2 run to storm back into the game 73-72. Both teams went back and forth as they knew this one would go down to the wire.

With just 43 seconds remaining, Sha'Ron Brunson sunk two free throws to give the Bruins a 79-74 advantage. Erin Horne scored on a jumper for the Valkyries to cut the lead to 79-76. On the ensuing inbounds pass, the Bruins were called for a 5-second violation despite the repeated attempts to call a timeout from the bench giving the Valkyries the ball. Converse College converted their opportunity to cut the lead to 79-78.

The Bruins got a golden opportunity as Bhrianna Jackson was fouled with just 18 seconds remaining, but Jackson missed both of her free throw opportunities. The Valkyries came down on the next possession and Kelcee Dozier was fouled with just 7 seconds to play. She confidently sunk both her free throws to put the Valkyries up 80-79. On the next possession, the Bruins had one final play but Bhrianna Jackson's hook shot fell short as the Valkyries completed the comeback to win 80-79 over BJU.  

"We're going to learn from it and get better and move onto the next one," Coach LeViere said. "Our goal is to get a little better every day. I think we will be better tomorrow because of the game today. So we're going to rest up and get ready for another week." 

Kendra Jeffcott led the Bruins with 16 points and 6 rebounds while Julia Wright scored 14 and Maggi Ford and Sha'Ron Brunson each scored 10. The Bruins committed 24 turnovers throughout the game, including a majority of those coming in the second half. With the loss, the team falls to 4-3 on the season. Next up, the Bruins will travel to the University of South Carolina-Upstate on Tuesday night.