January 23, 2008

 

                Dayton, TN—Suffering through a losing streak of any length is never any fun, and the Bryan College Lady Lions were not enjoying the 10 game stretch they were in the middle of heading into Wednesday night’s game against King College. The Lady Lions had played great basketball on numerous occasions during their 10 game slide, but ended up the hard-luck losers.  After playing Covenant to a 1 point loss, and losing a late lead on the road to AAC #1 Union, the Lady Lions were playing some of their best basketball of the year and were poised for the Lady Tornado to come into Summers Gymnasium.

                The Lady Lions struggled offensively in the early going Tuesday night as they shot just 31% from the floor in the first half. Despite the struggles it was once again Amber Smith and Katie Davis leading the charge, with Smith contributing 8 points and Davis adding 7 points of her own. The Lady Lions kept the game close by winning the battle on the glass, outrebounding King 19-15, but more importantly limiting King to just 4 offensive rebounds and stifling their second chance opportunities. As the teams headed to the locker room, the Lady Tornado led by 6, 35-29.

                The Lady Lions came out of the break on fire, shooting their way back into the ballgame from beyond the arc, hitting six second half three pointers. Kaylin Carswell got hot in the second half, scoring 8 of her 10 points in the second half. With King focusing their defense on Bryan’s leading scorer Katie Davis, Head Coach Jamy Bechler had to find points elsewhere, and Becca Morris again stepped up to contribute 12 points on the night. Amber Smith played a strong second half as well, grabbing 7 rebounds. Smith would hit a layup and make the accompanying free throw to tie the game at 42 with 12 minutes left in the second half. The teams traded buckets until Kaylin Carswell hit a 3 to give the Lions their first lead of the second half at the 9 minute mark.

                Again the teams traded baskets, and a Katie Davis 3 pointer would pull the Lions within one with 4 minutes to play. King hit a free throw to extend their lead to two, and the Lady Lions missed 5 shots from close range on their ensuing possession and were unable to close the gap. With the Lady Tornado up 2 and the clock ticking down, Kaylin Carswell’s three point attempt missed off the back of the rim and King escaped Summers Gymnasium with a 2 point victory, 61-59. The Lady Lions tough luck continued, as they have now lost their last three games by a combined 11 points.

                Despite the loss, Jamy Bechler was proud of his team’s effort after the game, “The girls really battled tonight.  I am very proud of them.  They keep getting better and better with each game.  We know that we can play with anyone but we just have to finish plays and finish out games.  Kaylin and Becca really shot well from the “3,” and Amber battled for rebounds.  Katie had a good floor game (4 assists, 8 rebounds) while only having 2 turnovers (none in the 2^nd half) despite handling the ball quite a bit.  It was nice playing at home and the crowd really supported us.  I was very pleased with the final shot that we got and I thought when it left Kaylin’s hand it was good. We’re going to prepare for Wise and be confident heading into that game on Saturday.”

The Lady Lions travel to Wise, VA to take on the Lady Cavaliers. Tip Off is scheduled for 4 PM.