The upperclassmen took charge in the late stages of the game as the Bruins edged Carolina university 64-55 on Friday night in the Davis Field House. Delaney Edwards led the way for the Bruins with 22 points and 6 rebounds to go along with 3 steals as the team improves to 2-1 on the season.
"We came ready to play tonight," Bruins Head Women's Basketball Coach Mike LeViere said. "We worked really hard and we were really aggressive and assertive with the ball. It was a really great game for us."
The Bruins came into the game on the heels of a tough loss on Tuesday night as the team fell to Warren Wilson College. They knew they would be in for another tough test as they faced Carolina University in front of the Bruin faithful.
From the opening tip, Carolina came out strong as Caliyana White and Denasia Mitchell knocked down back to back shots to help spark an early 7-2 lead. The Bruins responded by working the ball inside which allowed Delaney Edwards to get to the line for free throws.
As a result, the Bruins went on a 12-0 run spurred by threes from Shea Dickinson and Gracen Ledford as the team took a double-digit lead. Carolina would battle back late but the Bruins held a 19-17 lead at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Bruins increased their lead as a jumper from Tamrah Konieczka and a three from Edwards helped the team lead 26-22. Carolina came right back with a 10-2 run as they pulled ahead 32-28. The Bruins tried to battle back but turnovers hurt the team down the stretch as they went into halftime trailing Carolina 36-31.
The Bruins came out strong to begin the second half as Gracen Ledford and Tamrah Konieczka scored back to back buckets to spark an 10-0 to storm back and take the lead. The two teams then traded baskets with the score remaining close throughout the third quarter of play. Halle Ritter was able to score in the paint for the Bruins before Carolina answered back off a layup from Ni'Jaa Wells as BJU led 41-40 at the end of the third.
With one quarter to play, it was still anyone's ball game. Again, the two teams continued to trade baskets and the lead as both looked to gain the upper hand. With just over five minutes to play, Delaney Edwards scored on a layup to give the Bruins a 49-45 lead and force Carolina into a timeout.
Out of the timeout, Shea Dickinson hit a big three for the Bruins before Delaney Edwards added another as the team led 55-45. Carolina tried to answer back but Dickinson provided another key layup as the team led 59-47. Bethany Daulton then put the exclamation point on the win with a big three with under a minute to go as the Bruins ran away late to win 64-55.
"It is great to have the experience on the floor during those key times in the game," Coach LeViere said. "We played a lot of players and got some good minutes but our seniors and upperclassmen went to work in those late stages. It was a good step forward for us tonight."
Shea Dickinson scored 12 points in the game but had 5 of those points in the final minutes to go along with 3 assists. Despite being outrebounded in the game, the Bruins played great defense throughout the game forcing Carolina into 21 turnovers.
Next up, the Bruins will be back in action on Saturday afternoon as they face Welch College at 3 p.m. in the Davis Field House.
