On the road in Jacksonville, Florida, the Bob Jones University women's basketball team picked up a much needed win against NCCAA South region opponent Trinity Baptist College Saturday afternoon. Katrina Tabora hit her game-winning shot in the final seconds to see the Bruins take the 60-59 win. With today's result, the Bruins have improved to a 10-13 record on the season and 3-4 against conference opponents.
"Although that goes down at as a "W" in the record book, that performance was not very good. In a season marked by some disappointing performances, that was the most disturbing performance of them all," said Head Coach Mike LeViere. "I feel like our team is extremely deep and talented but the constant battle for this year has been the fact that we keep defeating ourselves. We once again made it harder than it should have been. We are running out of time and opportunities to change that. Our philosophy is to be better tomorrow because of today, and we need to be much better!"
The Bruins looked to bounce back after a tough loss on the road to Paine College earlier in the week that saw them go five games without a win. Trinity Baptist College came into the weekend game 6-13 on the season after falling to Pensacola Christian College 82-56 on February 3.
Shea Dickinson got the first points of the game for the Bruins before Trinity responded with a three points of their own. Trinity then pulled away to take the early lead and after ten minutes of action, the Eagles held the 17-7 lead over Bob Jones.
It was a back and forth effort to start the second quarter. A three-point shot from Bria Dickinson saw the Bruins cut the deficit to single digits. The Bruins continued to cut down the Eagles lead as Bailey Green finished an underhand layup. With two minutes left on the clock in the second quarter, Anna Layne Wylder pulled the Bruins within three points after sinking a three-point shot. Then right at the buzzer it was a Tamrah Konieczka who drained a three-pointer to flip the script and give the Bruins the 32-30 advantage going into halftime. In the second quarter, Bob Jones outscored Trinity 25 to 13.
Catherine Skebo opened the third quarter with an early bucket to give the Bruins the four point lead. Both teams exchanged buckets until Bethany Daulton hit a big three to extend the Bruins lead. Daulton then stole the ball from Trinity to race back down the court for a layup to see the Bruins lead 41-34 with just under four minutes left in the quarter. The Eagles fought back to score 10 points in the final minutes and see the score read 45-44 at the end of the third quarter.
Julia Weigle made her first basket of the quarter to begin the final frame and give the Bruins the three point lead. With close to seven minutes remaining on the clock, Bria Dickinson extended the lead for Bob Jones with a three-pointer. But as the game continued, the Eagles sank back to back three-pointers to cut down the Bruins advantage with just two minutes left in the game. The Bruins held on to a tight 58-57 lead with just 12 seconds left in the contest. Tamrah Konieckza then stepped out of bounds to see the Eagles gain possession of the ball. Trinity came down court to make their layup and retake their lead. After Coach LeViere called a timeout with 4.2 seconds on the clock, Katrina Tabora received the in bound pass and made her layup to put the Bruins back on top with less than a second remaining. The Eagles made one last effort, but the shot came just short and the Bruins pulled out the 60-59 victory.
Up next, the Bruins are back home for Senior Night in their final game of the regular season on February 18. They will host Johnson University (FL) as they look to finish strong before heading into the postseason.
