Delaney Edwards scored her 1,000 point as a Bruin as she helped her team fight for a comeback as Covenant College narrowly edged out the Bruins in the final seconds to win 71-70. Edwards becomes just the sixth player in program history to reach the 1,000-point milestone as she finished tonight's game with 18 points, 6 steals and 4 rebounds.
"We're really happy for her," said Head Coach Mike LeViere. "You think about the small percentage of basketball players that get to play in college and the even smaller percentage of those that score 1,000 points in college, is pretty elite company. We're really proud of her accomplishment and thankful for her and the impact she's had on our program. We're happy she hit that milestone at a home game."
Tonight's game started out pretty even as both teams battled back and forth for points. But then the Bruins entered an 8 minute drought without scoring a point while the Scots went on an 18-point run that extended into the second quarter. The Bruins were behind 29-9 until a layup by Bethany Daulton got the scoring started again for the home team halfway through the second quarter. With just under two minutes remaining before halftime, Delaney would head to the free throw line where she would make her shot giving her her 1,000 point as a Bruin. Heading into halftime, the Bruins would still trail 27-39.
The Bruins started the third quarter on a six point streak with Tamrah Konieczka contributing five of those six points. They would continue to claw their way back out of their deficit and would be behind only by eight points after 30 minutes of play. The Bruins out-shot the Scots 23-16 in the third quarter with Konieczka scoring 8 points and Gracen Ledford lending her hand with 4 assists. During that period, Bob Jones was shooting 57% from the three-point line.
It would all come down to the final minutes of the fourth quarter. The Bruins continued to fight and with 1:34 left in the game, a jumper by Shea Dickinson would tie the game. A layup by Gracen Ledford would give the Bruins the lead with 20 seconds remaining, but Covenant would make two shots from the free throw line with 4 seconds remaining to take the lead again. The Bruins battled down the court in the final seconds, but weren't able to make the shot and fell 70-71 to Covenant College to go 8-11 on the season.
Four Bruins players scored in the double figures tonight. Delaney Edwards led the Bruins with 18 points and 6 steals, but it was also a great night for Gracen Ledford as she came away with 11 points and 9 assists.
After the game, Coach LeViere said that "Covenant is a good team. We came back from that big deficit and had a should've-would've-could've game with the lead changing three times in the final minute. To be in that position is really awesome when you think about how far behind we were, but let's not put ourselves in that position to begin with. We got in that position when we lost who we are. It goes back to focusing and controlling the things we can and to do our best at those things. If we do that, really good things will happen."
Up next, the Bruins will face Warren Wilson College on Tuesday evening from the Davis Field House.
