After seeing themselves down by 19 points in the fourth quarter, the Bob Jones University women's basketball team rallied to defeat Covenant College 62-61 Saturday afternoon in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. With today's victory, the Bruins have extended their winning streak to five games improving to 5-3 on the season.
"We had to fight through some travel sluggishness today, but we are happy with the result," said Head Coach Mike LeViere. "Our first half we just weren't ourselves and didn't have any confidence on offense or defense. It was awesome to see this entire group overcome that and keep working hard to do what the coaches were asking them to do. After some minor adjustments at half time they didn't give up and came out in the second half ready to go."
Both the Bruins and the Scots entered Saturday's game looking to continue their winning ways. The Bruins made the trip to Georgia after beating Warren Wilson 73-41 the night before. Today's game marked the fourth time the two programs have met with Covenant winning the last two contests.
As the game got underway, it was a bit of a slow start for both teams. Covenant kicked off the scoring a couple minutes in. Halfway through the first quarter, Bethany Dalton went down the court and sank her shot to put the Bruins on the board. After a couple of baskets were exchanged, the Scots went on an eight point run before a jumper from Tamrah Konieczka broke their streak with just under two minutes left on the clock. At the end of the first quarter, the Bruins saw themselves down 17-9.
The Bruins missed a couple of shots at the start of the second quarter, but it was Shea Dickinson for three with the assist from Beth Clark to get the scoring rolling. BJU continued to struggled on the offensive side and at halftime the Bruins saw themselves down by 15 points. In the first half, the Bruins only shot 22% from the field.
Looking to cut down the deficit, the Bruins needed a strong second half. A jumper from Konieczka got the Bruins on the board in the third quarter. With back to back steals and baskets, the Bruins began cutting down Covenant's lead. But then the Scots battled back with an eight point run and the third quarter ended with scoreboard reading 52-35.
With 10 minutes remaining on the clock, the Bruins were down by 19 points at the start of the fourth quarter. Ainsley Hutton responded with a layup that began a 12 point scoring spree. A three-pointer from Konieczka cut the lead to seven with under five minutes remaining in the game. A sense of urgency could be felt as time was ticking down to the final buzzer. With just eight seconds left on the clock, Bethany Daulton passed the ball to Anna Layne Wylder who drained a three-point shot to give the Bruins the 62-61 advantage, their first lead of the game.
In a shocking turn of events, the women's basketball team rallied from a 19 point deficit to upset Covenant College in the final seconds of Saturday's game.
"Tamrah was key in the middle of the zone and the entire team was persistent in working hard both offensively and defensively," said Coach LeViere. "We had awesome contributions from all of our bench. Several players like Faith McClary and Ashley Phelan came in and made buckets and played some solid defense."
Tamrah Konieczka led the team with a double double of 19 points and 13 rebounds. Aso scoring in double figures was Aisnley Hutton with 11 points and Shea Dickinson with 10 points.
Up next, the Bruins come back home to the Davis Field House where they will host Brevard College on December 7 for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
