The Lady Bruins were on the road on Tuesday night as the team fell to Brevard College 64-57 in Brevard, North Carolina. With the loss, the Bruins fall to 3-3 on the season. Kylee Leffew led the team with 15 points and 5 rebounds in the loss.
"It was a good effort for us tonight but we just struggled to score," Bruins Head Coach Mike LeViere said. "We left a lot of points out there and missed a lot of close shots in and around the rim. We also didn't have a good performance from the free-throw line. While we hate to lose, we can take away some positive things from this game."
The Bruins came into Tuesday's game after a dominant win over Methodist University on Saturday. The Tornados came into the game at 2-2 and had lost to the the same Methodist University on Sunday.
In the opening minutes, the Tornados came out strong with back to back threes from Taryn Ledford to lead 6-0. The Bruins were able to find open looks, but the team struggled to maintain their offensive rhythm. Still, they kept the score close as Kylee Leffew hit a three and followed it up with a layup to make it 12-5. Near the end of the quarter the Bruins battled back to tie 17-17 at the end of the first.
Madison Shupe put the Bruins up 19-17 with a jump shot but the Tornados answered back as they again took the lead. Freshman Jody Bates had a big quarter for the Bruins as she hit two three pointers to help spark a rally but as both teams went into halftime, the Bruins were still playing from behind at 36-30.
As the second half began, the Bruins came out looking to reclaim the lead. Unfortunately, shooting struggles plagued the team as the Bruins shot just 23% from the field. As a result, the Tornados were able to 53-41 at the end of the third quarter.
With one quarter to play, the Bruins remained within striking distance thanks to great defensive play and tenacity in the rebounding game. Still, the Bruins struggled to find their rhythm offensively as shots continued to rim out.
Shea Dickinson sparked a late rally as she scored back to back layups to cut the lead to 53-49 with just over five minutes to play. The Tornados were able to answer back and continued to keep the upper hand late in the game. Despite the rally, the Bruins hopes of a road win came up short as the final buzzer handed the team a tough loss 64-57.
"Despite some of our struggles we almost pulled off a win on the road," Coach LeViere said. "We saw some real maturing in the team with several players stepping up for us. Tonight, we showed that we can still be in a game despite poor shooting as long as we do the other fundamentals well. We are starting to gel which is good to see at this point in the season."
Leffew was the only player to score in double figures for the Bruins as the senior shot 50% from the field including 6-7 from the free throw line. The Bruins won the rebounding margin 42-37 but shot just 33% from the floor and 29% from three-point range in the game.
Next up, the Bruins will be on the road again on Friday as the team faces LaGrange College in LaGrange, Georgia. Tip-off for the game is scheduled for 7 p.m.
