Box Score
With seconds to play, the Lady Bruins were on the verge of moving onto the NCCAA DI South Region Championship for the 2nd straight season. Then the miraculous happened as Point University tied the game with a desperation three to send the game into overtime. The Skyhawks rode the momentum of their home crowd and ended the Bruins season with a 75-65 overtime win.
"This was a really tough loss for us," Coach Mike LeViere said. "While we are disappointed, to compete with Point and push them to overtime says a lot about our team. Our ladies competed all year long and we were one play away from going to our second straight region championship. We can't fault our effort and our team can sleep well knowing they gave it their all!"
The Bruins came into the region playoffs as the #3 seeded team in the region. Point University had grabbed the #2 seed and the Skyhawks would play host to the region playoffs this season. The two teams met in the second game of the 2015-16 season, with Point escaping with a 69-66 win. Since then, the two teams have battled hard all season long and were set again for another battle as they took the court.
Point University settled into a rhythm early on and jumped out to an early 10-2 lead behind the play of Dereese Owens. The Bruins began to respond as Kendra Jeffcott and Sha'Ron Brunson sparked a rally for the team as they cut into the lead. From there, the Skyhawks used another mini-run to close out the first quarter with a 17-11 lead.
In the second quarter, the Skyhawks jumped out strong again with a 14-2 run to take a double-digit lead. The Bruins were finding the looks on offense, but were struggling to limit the Skyhawks scoring throughout. With just over 2 minutes to play in the half, the Bruins began to rely on their post play as Brianna Delaney and Kendra Jeffcott were able to work the ball inside for points. Capturing momentum, the Bruins came storming back to close out the half on a 13-0 run to trail Point University 32-28 at the break.
As the second half began, the Bruins kept the momentum and battled back to take the lead. The two teams knew this game would go down to the wire as each tried to gain the upper hand. With just seconds remaining in the quarter, Brianna Delaney knocked down a three-point shot to give the Bruins a 46-40 lead heading into the final quarter.
With one quarter to go, the Bruins were looking to punch their ticket to the region championship. After Maggi Ford knocked down a three point shot, the Bruins had a 53-41 lead. After a Skyhawk timeout, Point University slowly began to string together defensive stops and converted on the offensive end to cut into the lead. The Skyhawks battled all the way back and trailed just 61-58 with less than a minute to go. With 8 seconds on the clock, Dereese Owens knocked down a fall-away three point shot to tie the game and sent it into overtime. The Skyhawks fans went crazy!
In the overtime period, the Bruins struggled to score while Point University took advantage by converting on the offensive end and at the free throw line. As the final buzzer sounded, the Skyhawks had held on to defeat the Bruins 75-65 and end BJU's season.
"I will miss coaching this team," Coach LeViere said. "They were a true team and are like family. They represented Christ, the university and their families in an honorable way. They have much to be proud of."
Brianna Delaney had 13 points and 19 rebounds while Kendra finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds on the night. The team battled hard from start to finish, but committed 21 turnovers while shooting just 16% from beyond the arc for the game. With the loss, the Bruins end their season at 19-12. It was a memorable year for the Bruins basketball program and the team says goodbye to four seniors who have had a tremendous impact on and off the court. One thing is for certain though, with a core group of returners the future looks bright for Lady Bruins basketball.
