The Lady Bruins walked into halftime with the confidence as the team trailed 51-39 at the break. Unfortunately, the second half didn't fare well for the team as they managed just fifteen second-half points in a 91-54 loss to Emmanuel College. With the loss, the Lady Bruins fall to 2-6 on the season.
"They are a good team and playing good ball at this point in the season," Bruins Head Coach Mike LeViere. "They are well-coached and very athletic. In the first half we were able to scratch and claw our way to stick with them, but the second half we came out and turned the ball over a lot and that was the story of the game."
The Bruins came into the game on the heels of a win in their home opener on Monday night against Brevard College. The Bruins took the court for their fifth game in the last six days as they welcomed the Lions who came into the game at 2-2 on the season.
The Lions stormed out of the gate as Hanna Grogan scored back to back buckets as Emmanuel College jumped out to a 7-0 lead. The Bruins were able to slowly get back into the game thanks to the stellar first half play of Sarah Thomsen. The senior guard scored the first 11 points for the Bruins as the team trailed 18-11. The Lions forced the Bruins into several turnovers and took advantage of their size in the post to create second chance points. At the end of the first quarter, the Bruins trailed 26-19.
In the second quarter, the Lions looked to pull away from the Bruins. Instead, Thomsen again knocked down a jumper to help the Bruins cut the lead to 30-24. A quick run by Emmanuel allowed them to extend their lead before the Bruins closed out the quarter on a run to trail 51-39 at the half. Thomsen had a great first half as she had 21 points on 7-10 shooting, including going 4-5 from beyond the arc.
As the second half began, the Bruins looked poised to make a run and get back into the game. Instead, the Lions opened the quarter with a 16-0 run and blew the game wide open. The Lions were able to push the tempo and take advantage of several costly turnovers by the Bruins as they extended their lead. The Bruins were held scoreless for nearly five minutes in the quarter before Madison Shupe knocked down a three to stop the run. Still, the Bruins could only muster five points for the quarter as they trailed 76-44 going into the fourth.
With the game decided, the Bruins came out looking to make it respectable. Turnovers continued to plague the Bruins as the team committed 31 turnovers on the night which accounted for 32 Lions points. The other story of the game was the Lions play in the post as 46 points in the paint left the Bruins defense struggling. The Lions were also able to grab 14 offensive rebounds to help extend possessions and get extra shots. As a result, the Bruins fell 91-54.
"We're still a young team and we look to be a better team going forward," Coach LeViere said. "We have a tough schedule and we want to be challenged as long as we can learn from it. Sometimes you take some bruises and learn from it and are able to improve because of it. All of this experience against these tough teams is going to pay off and our trajectory is looking good."
Despite having a dominant first half, Sarah Thomsen didn't score a single point in the second half as she finished with 21 points on the night. Madison Shupe and Rachel Clark were the only other players in double figures with 12 and 10 respectively.
Next up, the Bruins will head into the Thanksgiving break before returning to the court next week. The team will be on the road at Salem College on November 27 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
