Box Score
Madison Shupe scored a team-high 14 points as the BJU Lady Bruins ended their season with a 68-47 loss to the #2 seeded Pensacola Christian College Lady Eagles in the 3rd place consolation game for the NCCAA DII National Tournament. The Lady Bruins finish the season with a 14-20 record. The team played the game without starters Sha'Ron Brunson and Amanda Bates, who were both out due to injuries. "Everybody has the bumps and bruises," Coach Mike LeViere said following the game. "We had a few significant ones that took out a few of our players, but we're just going to go out and play."
The opening minutes went back and for in what would be a very defensive quarter. About four minutes in, Madison Shupe scored the Lady Bruins' first points on a three to make the score 4-3 in favor of the Eagles. PCC hit back-to-back buckets and then Kylee Leffew scored her first points of the game to keep the Lady Bruins within three at 8-5. The Lady Bruins would only score four more points the rest of the quarter, with those points coming off free throws from Gracen Ledford and Charise Johnson. Meanwhile, PCC managed to put together a 4-0 run and a 6-0 run as they scored fourteen more points to make the score 19-9 at the end of the first quarter.
Lauren Smith started out the second quarter with two free throws to cut PCC's lead down to 19-11 but the Lady Eagles answered with a 5-0 run, giving them a 24-11 lead. Similar to the first quarter, the second quarter was low scoring and featured a lot of defense. The remaining points for the Lady Bruins came from free throws by Ledford and Leffew. On the positive side, the Lady Bruins did manage to outscore the Eagles 12-11 in the quarter to make the score 30-17 entering halftime.
In the second half, Lauren Smith scored to cut the lead down to 32-19. That bucket sparked a 6-0 Lady Bruins run, which also included field goals from Clark and Thomsen as the team looked to get back in the game. The single-digit deficit was short lived for the Lady Bruins as the Eagles quickly scored again. Shupe hit her second three of the game to bring the score within at 37-27, but PCC responded with a 6-0 run as they closed out the quarter strong to lead 46-31.
The Eagles started off the final quarter with a three, increasing their lead to 49-31. Ledford answered with her own and Leffew scored shortly after to bring PCC's lead down to 51-36. The Eagles then put the game out of reach with 6-0 run as they went on to defeat the Bruins 68-47.
"The scoreboard doesn't tell the whole story," LeViere said. "It's a great testament to the team and their grittiness and their fortitude that we're playing today at all."
Madison Shupe led the Bruins with 14 points while Kylee Leffew scored 10 points to go along with 8 rebounds. With the loss, the Bruins' season officially comes to an end. The team battled through the up and down in a season which brought a lot of adversity.
"The growth has been tremendous," Bruins' senior captain Sha'Ron Brunson said after finishing her final season with the Lady Bruins. "There's still a lot of work to do and things that have to be done. If they keep doing what they're doing, there's going to be great things in store for the future."
