The Bob Jones University women's basketball team's time at the NCCAA South Region tournament comes to an end after a heartbreaking 77-75 loss to Pensacola Christian College in the semifinals Friday night.
"I always say that the scoreboard does not reflect success. It just keeps track of the score against your opponent" said Head Coach Mike LeViere. "We ended up losing by two points, but I think anyone watching that game is going to see which team was successful. I am super proud of the resiliency shown by our ladies. I've never had a team have to overcome what they overcame today. We can walk off the court with our head held high."
The Bruins entered Friday's semifinal contest following a dominant 94-37 victory over Johnson University FL on Thursday.
It was a battle between the #2 and #3 seeds as the two rivals prepared for a late Friday night game.
Pensacola Christian College pressed hard early in the game, but the Bruins looked to break through and stayed right with the Eagles. The Eagles took the early lead but a layup by Annie Miller with 3:23 left in the first quarter made it a one possession game. At the end of the first quarter, the Bruins trailed 14-22.
PCC sank a three pointer to open the second quarter and take a double digit lead. With under five minutes remaining before halftime, the Bruins saw themselves behind by 14 points. The Bruins rallied and went on a 12 point run. Annie MIller drained a shot from outside the arc to pull the Bruins within one point. Bria Dickinson was then fouled on her way to the basket and sank both of her free throws to put the Bruins on top for the first time in the game and sent the Bruins into halftime ahead 44-43.
BJU controlled the early parts of the third quarter with layups by Shea Dickinson, Bria Dickinson, and Anna Layne Wylder adding some cushion to the Bruins lead. PCC slowly began chipping away and in the final minutes the lead flip flopped before the Eagles made a free throw to even the score at 60 points a piece. The Bruins took the ball and raced down the court. Miller passed it to Wylder who was open outside the three point line. She sank her three point attempt to put the Bruins on top once again 63-60 going into the final 10 minutes of play.
After early layups by each team to open the fourth quarter, BJU went on an eight point run to extend their lead once again with 5:36 left on the game clock. PCC made their way to the free throw line several times after fouls called on the Bruins to work their way back into the game.
With 1:14 left, Bria Dickinson broke the Eagles run and squared the score at 75 points each.
After a timeout and with 3.7 seconds left on the game clock, the Eagles inbounded the ball and worked their way to the net where they made their layup at the buzzer to go ahead 77-75. Fans began to storm the court, and the Bruins looked for the officials to call a technical foul. Unfortunately, the call was not given and the Eagles finished the game with the 77-75 win to advance to the NCCAA South Region Championship game.
Three Bruins finished the game in double figures with Annie Miller and Anna Layne Wylder recording 16 points and Bria Dickinson coming away with 13. Katrina Tabora led the team with rebounds, snagging 14 of the team's 49.
Coach LeViere continued his thoughts following the game saying, "tonight rebounding was huge. Playing through a lot of contact and not getting calls. We can control the things we can control, and I think we did that really well tonight. Dominating the boards and shooting the way we did and overcoming the atmosphere. I think our team battled through a whole lot tonight and came out a winner in terms of being successful."
The Bruins finished their 2023-24 season 12-15 overall and 5-4 in conference play.
