Box Score
At the half, the Lady Bruins had a sixteen point advantage as they looked to avenge their earlier season loss to the Pensacola Christian College Eagles. Instead, the Eagles rallied to defeat the Bruins 71-61 on Saturday in Pensacola, Florida. With the loss, the team falls to 13-15 on the season and 5-2 in conference play.
"There really isn't much to say about this one," Bruins Head Coach Mike LeViere said. "It was a tale of two halves for us. They came out in the 2nd half and played really well and we didn't."
The loss was reminiscent of the earlier meeting in the season between these two teams as the Bruins allowed the Eagles to come back from a double-digit deficit for the win. The Bruins came into the game having won three of their last four games.
Sha'Ron Brunson scored the first ten points for the Bruins as the team jumped out to an early 10-2 advantage. The Eagles began to chip away at the lead but the Bruins were able to maintain a 17-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
In the second frame, the Bruins continued to move the ball well offensively as Madison Shupe knocked down a three-point shot to give the Bruins a 26-11 lead. The Eagles again began to close the gap but the Bruins kept a double digit lead as they closed out the half up 42-25.
The third quarter may have been one of the worst for the season for the Lady Bruins as the offense went ice cold. The team committed 11 turnovers over the course of the third quarter of play while only recording two points the entire quarter. On the flip side, the Eagles took advantage of the Bruins mistakes by outscoring the Bruins 31-2 in the third quarter to completely change the game. As a result, what was once a double-digit advantage for the Bruins turned into a 57-44 deficit with just one quarter to play.
With momentum firmly in their grasp, the Eagles came out strong in the final quarter behind the three-pronged scoring attack of Jessica Boyd, Marlee Moore and Joy Smith. The Bruins were able to string together brief glimpses of their first half scoring, but the team couldn't overcome the Eagles as they fell 71-61.
"At the half we talked about coming out like it was a tie game," Coach LeViere said. "We obviously didn't do that. We were content to let them stop us out front and we didn't stay aggressive offensively."
Sha'Ron Brunson led the Bruins with 15 points while Sarah Thomsen had 12 and Kylee Leffew finished with 10 points and 6 rebounds. The team will return home for a quick turn around as the Bruins welcome Warren Wilson College on Monday night.
