February 24, 2008

 

                Bristol, TN—The Bryan College Lady Lions took on the Lady Tornado of King College, ranked 2^nd in the league, in Bristol on Saturday afternoon. Bryan was looking to get back in the win column after a tough loss to Union on Tuesday, while King, riding a 5 game winning streak, was hoping to force a two-way tie with Union for the AAC’s regular season crown. The Lady Tornado had won the early season matchup by 2 points in Dayton on January 23, 61-59. After the loss, the Lady Lions rattled off 5 straight victories and battled back into the middle of the conference standings.

                The Lady Lions were without star guard Katie Davis who was sidelined with a foot injury suffered in practice earlier in the week. Davis was coming off a 25 point performance against Union College in which she surpassed the 1000 point plateau, but the junior would not add to her point total on Saturday night as she could only watch from the bench. Lady Lions Head Coach Jamy Bechler looked at his bench to pick up the slack left by Davis’ absence, and his team responded, with 4 players in double figures, but in the end it was King’s depth which led to the undoing of the Lady Lions.

                Amber Smith led the Lady Lions on the night with 15 points and 7 rebounds, while Kaylin Carswell contributed 12 points and 6 boards. Courtney Swanson and Becca Morris chipped in 10 points a piece, but without Davis in the lineup, the Lady Lions never got it going from beyond the arc. Davis ranks among the top 10 in the country in 3-point FG made per game, and the Lady Lions missed her on Saturday, hitting only 2 shots from beyond the arc all night.

                Bryan trailed by only 7 points at the break, 42-35, but was undone by turnovers in the second half. Both teams shot 49% on the night, and the Lady Lions actually held the rebounding edge 36-27, but King forced 24 Bryan turnovers and outscored the Lady Lions by 10 in the second half to finish with a 17 point victory, 81-64.  The loss now sets the Lady Lions up to play the Milligan College Lady Buffaloes in the 1^st round of the Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament. King moves into a tie with Union for First-Place and will take on the Lady Bulldogs in a tiebreaker on Monday evening to determine the regular season champion.