The Lady Bruins bounced back from their disappointing loss to Pensacola Christian College last Friday with a resounding 81-51 victory over the Toccoa Falls Screaming Eagles on Tuesday night. The Bruins improved to 8-9 on the season and 3-1 in region play with the win and notched their 10^th straight win against Toccoa Falls.
 
"It's good to see us not come out and have any hangover from the Friday night game," Bruins Coach Mike Leviere said following the win. "I thought we did a really good job coming out business-like and taking care of what we needed to take care of."
 
In the opening minutes of the first quarter, both teams struggled mightily to create separation on offense and make shots. To stimulate their offense, the Bruins used offensive rebounds to put points on the board and hold an early 5-1 lead. Madison Shupe drained two 3-pointers midway through the first quarter, sparking a 10-2 run for the Bruins. Thanks to the late run and the poor shooting display by Toccoa Falls, the Bruins ended the quarter with a 15-3 lead.
 
Both teams flipped the offensive script in the second quarter. Gracen Ledford and Madison Shupe ignited the Bruins' offense and extended the margin to twenty with two quick threes. However, Toccoa Falls began to find their offense and rattled off a 9-3 run of their own to make it a 29-14 game. In response, guard Tamrah Konieczka provided 6 points off the bench, including an and-one layup, to increase the lead to 34-19 heading into halftime.
 
Both offenses continued to score effectively in the third, but the Bruins were firing on all cylinders. Madison Shupe, Kylee Leffew, and Delaney Edwards lit up the scoreboard, scoring a collective 20 points and pushing the lead to 54-27. Shea Dickinson came off the bench and nailed 2 threes of her own as the team took a 63-34 lead into the final frame.
 
With a commanding twenty-nine point lead, the Bruins rested many of their starters and gave quality playing time to several freshmen and sophomores. Jody Bates was a force down low in the paint, sinking two layups and collecting offensive rebounds early in the fourth. Despite a late surge by Toccoa Falls, the deficit was too much to overcome as the Bruins finished off the Eagles with an 81-51 victory.
 
The Bruins' bench provided a spark in the win with 27 points. Both Madison Shupe and Kylee Leffew recorded a double-double with Shupe finishing with 23 points and 10 rebounds while Leffew registered 13 points and 10 rebounds. Gracen Ledford filled the box score as well with 5 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds.
 
The Bruins hope to carry the momentum into their next matchup against Johnson University and avenge the team's 82-73 loss to the Royals top open the 2019-20 season. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 PM this Friday at the Davis Field House.

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