The Lady Bruins snapped their three-game winning streak on Monday night as the team won their home-opener with a 75-66 victory over Brevard College. With the win, the team moves to 2-5 on the season. After a weekend of away games, the Bruins were ready to play on their home court.
"Can't say enough about the effort tonight of our team," Bruins Head Coach Mike LeViere said. "There is gritty and pretty and I think we did both tonight. We did a lot of good things with the basketball and a lot of gritty things in doing what we needed to for the win."
The Tornados looked to silence the Bruins hometown crowd as they came out with back to back three pointers to lead 6-0. The Bruins had several open looks but the team had several turnovers as it took a full two and a half minutes before Sydney Bedsaul scored the first Bruin points. Still, the Bruins stayed within striking distance as they trailed 16-10 after the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Bruins shored up their defensive play while offensively the team was able to attack the rim for points. Sarah Thomsen and Delaney Edwards provided points off layups but the Tornados maintained the lead. With under two minutes to play, the Bruins overcame a nine-point deficit to take a 34-33 lead. The Tornados came back on the next possession as Annalee Bollinger hit a three at the buzzer to give the Tornados a 36-34 lead at the half.
As the second half began, the Tornados again used back to back threes to take the lead. The Bruins came right back as layups by Kylee Leffew and Madison Shupe helped the Bruins trail 46-44.
With just over two minutes to play in the quarter, the Tornados took a six point lead as they again knocked down shots from three-point range. The Bruins answered as Sydney Bedsaul and Sarah Thomsen each hit a three to spark a late run as the Bruins battled back to tie the game 56-56 at the end of the third.
In the fourth quarter, the Bruins rode their momentum as Thomsen made a jumper and the Bruins took the lead. Each basket by the Tornados was answered by the Bruins as BJU kept going ahead one basket at a time.
Kylee Leffew gave the Bruins their biggest lead of the game after she drove through the lane for a layup to put the Bruins up 66-62. Gracen Ledford then hit a three for the Bruins as they wnt up 69-62. After the Tornados answered back with a layup, Madison Shupe drove home the dagger as she hit a three with just over a minute to go. Despite several attempts by Brevard to climb back into it, the Bruins made their free throws down the stretch to win 75-66.
"It was a team effort tonight," Bruins forward Delaney Edwards said as she finished with 14 rebounds and 14 points in the win. "We all worked hard and did our part and worked hard and played good defense."
Sarah Thomsen led the Bruins with 18 points on the night while Kylee Leffew had a strong game with 11 points and 8 rebounds. Freshman Delaney Edwards was the story of the night as she recorded a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds.
Next up, the team will be back home again on Tuesday as they welcome Emmanuel College to the Davis Field House. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
