The Bob Jones University women's basketball team have improved to 7-11 on the season after a big 66-50 Saturday afternoon home victory over Warren Wilson College.
"It's good to get W's," said Head Coach Mike LeViere. "There have been a lot of should've, would've, could've games that have happened. It's nice to get the wins, but we still have to focus on the little things. We walk away with the win today, but we had a lot of turnovers and sloppy play that we have to clean up."
As Saturday's game got underway, the Bruins got off to a 11-0 lead. Strong defense by Bob Jones held the Owls off the board for the first six minutes of the game. At the conclusion of the first quarter, the Bruins led the Owls 20-8.
It was a slow start for BJU in the second quarter as the Owls worked their way back into the game. Four minutes into the quarter, Keely Price drained a three-pointer to get the Bruins on the board. The Owls out-scored the Bruins 14-9 in the second quarter, but at halftime, the two teams went into the locker rooms with Bob Jones leading 29-22.
Warren Wilson closed their deficit to just four points after halftime. Bruins got back their double digit lead with 2:30 left in the third quarter and held it through the remainder of the frame as they went on a 16-4 run to end the quarter.
In the final 10 minutes of play, the Bruins pulled ahead to a 20 point advantage with a free throw by Keely Price followed by a steal and layup by Anna Layne Wylder. It was back-and-forth for the two programs in the final minutes of the contest, but at the final buzzer it was the Bruins on top 66-50.
Three Bruins finished in double figures with Keely Price leading the way with 18 followed closely by Anna Layne Wylder with 17 and Faith Hayward with 15 points. The team shot 41% from the field, was 80% from the free throw line, and 31% from outside the arc.
"I thought we had good movement, and we did a good job breaking the press, but we need to work on our rebounding," said Wylder. "I think we improved overall, especially for this weekend to get two wins in a row."
Following the game, Coach LeViere commented saying, "Warren Wilson won the rebound battle. We shot the ball decent and that results in a victory, but if we shoot the ball well and play good defense and combine that with things like rebounding and not turning the ball over and we're really going to see some advancement in our performance. Overall our offense is getting better and our defense has been good. We just have to work on rebounding and taking care of the ball."
When asked how the team can continue to improve on rebounding, Hayward said "we have to be hungry and have the desire to do it. It can't just be one or two people. It has to be everyone doing it, and we have to be on the same page and hungry for the ball."
Up next, the Bruins will make their way to Toccoa Falls, Georgia on Tuesday evening for another NCCAA South Region contest.
