Lady Lions Fall To NAIA Division I Georgetown College
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November 15, 2007
Georgetown 59, Bryan 52
Dayton, TN—The Bryan College Lady Lions, coming off a tough loss on the road at Lee University last Thursday, took the court again Thursday night at Summers Gymnasium looking to get back to their winning ways. The Lady Lions took on NAIA Division I member Georgetown College from Georgetown,KY in game one of the Bryan Classic. Georgetown came into the contest averaging 86 points per game, having defeated Bryan’s conference rival Covenant College by 20 points earlier in the week. Playing without starting point guard Ashley Gray and All-Conference senior Kellie Thurman, the Lions would need to bring their ‘A’ game in order to beat the Lady Tigers.
Georgetown came out and immediately built a 9-2 lead, forcing the Lions to turn the ball over on consecutive trips down the floor, but Bryan played tough defensively and on the boards, keeping themselves in the ballgame. The game was physical from the first whistle, and the Lady Lions were definitely outsized by their opponents, but Bryan would not be intimidated. The Lady Lions ended up taking the lead right before halftime: 22-21. Bryan shot 27% in the first half, while holding Georgetown to just 20% shooting, their lowest total of the year.
Georgetown came out looking to crash the offensive boards hard in the second half, and they did just that, outrebounding Bryan 43-38 on the night, and 23-11 on the offensive glass. The Lady Lions continued to struggle with taking care of the ball, and finished the night with 27 turnovers which led to 17 Georgetown points. The physical play continued in the second half, however the calls were not going the way of the Lady Lions, as Georgetown shot 20 second half free throws to Bryan’s 7. The Lady Lions didn’t help themselves from the charity stripe, shooting just 58%, and being outscored at the free throw line by 11 points.
The Lady Tigers hounded Bryan’s leading scorer Katie Davis all night, and kept her from ever getting into a rhythm. Davis would hit just two field goals on the night, both from beyond the arc, and go 4 of 5 from the free throw line to finish with 10 total points. The Lions trailed by 10 with 8 minutes left in the game, and would cut the lead to 4 with 6 minutes left, but then the home team went cold, not scoring for 5 straight minutes. The Lady Tigers held on for the victory, final score: 59-52.
Despite the struggles, there were a few highlights for the home team, as Davis and Hillary Tipton again led the team in rebounding. While it’s nice to see the guards crashing the boards, Bryan Coach Jamy Bechler would like to see his post players hitting the boards harder. Offensively, Jessica Southern led the Lions and was a perfect 7 for 7 from the floor, finishing with 14 points.
Bechler spoke about the loss: “Despite the loss, I am proud of the way our girls played. They played defense the way we have been teaching. We played tough and made Georgetown use the shot clock and rebound well in order to beat us. Georgetown is a very good team that is big and physical. They know how to play and are very experienced. Our defense had to be spectacular to give us a chance, and it was pretty good, but we shot ourselves in the foot with 27 turnovers. It is disappointing that a quality defensive performance was not rewarded. However, we can build on this. To play such a nationally recognized program that tight should give us a lot of confidence.”
The Lady Lions step onto the court again Saturday afternoon at 1PM when they take on Cedarville University in what is sure to be another tough test for Bechler and his young team.