With their post-season on the line, the Bob Jones University women's basketball team shined bright in a dominant 94-37 victory over Johnson University Florida on Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the NCCAA South Region tournament in Pensacola, Florida.
"We shot the ball well tonight, but what leads to that is good movement on offense and good defense," said Head Coach Mike LeViere. "We didn't take a lot of bad shots. In the first quarter we had a really high assist percentage, hunting for our teammates and finding them in good positions. Defensively, we came out aggressive. I challenged us at halftime to play a better half no matter what the scoreboard said, and I feel like we did that. Tonight set a good tone for the rest of the tournament."
The Bruins entered the NCCAA South Region tournament as the #3 seed ready to take on the six seed Johnson University Florida. The two programs met twice during the regular season where BJU finished each game with a double digit lead.
From tip-off, the Bruins got off to a hot start. Shea Dickinson sank a three pointer to open the scoring before Catherine Skebo tallied the next eight points for the Bruins to put them ahead to an early 11-3 advantage. The Suns pulled within three points, but the Bruins went on to extend their lead, and after 10 minutes of play led 29-14.
It was a slow start to the second quarter as the Bruins remained scoreless for the first four minutes of the quarter before a layup by Hallie Ritter broke the drought. Through the final five minutes the Bruins put 12 points on the board and at the buzzer they went into the locker room leading the Suns 41-24.
Following the halftime break, the Bruins looked to build off of the momentum from the first half. After the two teams exchanged buckets through the opening minutes of the third quarter, the Bruins offensive exploded going on a 27-4 run through the final seven minutes to jump to a 42 point advantage.
Looking to close the game out strong, BJU's defense shut down the Suns and through the final 10 minutes only allowed one bucket by the competition. At the final buzzer, the Bruins put their name in the win column with a decisive 94-37 victory.
The Bruins finished the contest shooting 44.2% from the field and 40.5% from the three point line with Anna Layne Wylder leading the Bruins with 24 points, going 8-11 outside the arc.
Up next, the Bruins take on #2 Pensacola Christian College in the semifinals in what is bound to be a tough contest on Friday night with an 9 p.m. tip-off time.
When asked what he looks to see from his team tomorrow, Coach LeViere said he's hoping for the same mentality. "Coming out and being the best version of ourselves that we can be and not worrying about what the opponent does and not get caught up in the hype of playing PCC at PCC"
