Heartbreaking home opener
Click here to view a slideshow of the event.
Hundreds turned out to “Pack the House in Pink”, the event hosted by GCSU’s Kappa Upsilon chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha sorority to raise awareness for breast cancer research and education, and saw both teams battling for the lead in the final minutes of the second half. As a result of the close score, free throws proved decisive in the outcome of the game. Both teams sent shooters to the line numerous times in the second half, but the Lady Bears of Lenoir-Rhyne shot 20 percent better than the Bobcats at the line and emerged victorious.
Head Coach John Carrick was disappointed with his team’s loss.
“We killed ourselves,” Carrick said. “They gave us chances with free throws, but we did it to ourselves. We had some missed shots, a missed lay-up. Give them credit, they did a good job closing on us, but we killed ourselves.”
“We created good shots offensively, but free throws killed us,” senior forward Tiauna Brantley said. “Those are gimmes.”
Brantley led the team in scoring with 18 points, her new career high. Junior forward Antoinette Reames scored 11 points, grabbed nine rebounds, blocked three shots and had two steals in the game before fouling out with just under a minute left. Junior guard Shandrea Moore and sophomore guard Dominique Huffin each added nine points.
While the Lady Bobcats performed better than Lenoir-Rhyne in several key defensive areas, including steals, blocked shots and turnovers, Reames thinks that the team can execute better defensively.
“We didn’t rotate towards the middle tonight,” Reames said. “We needed to box out and limit them to one shot.”
The Lady Bobcats stuck to their strategy of strong guard play through the duration of the game. The team attempted 15 three-point shots, and played an intense, pressing defense, resulting in the ten steals. The bench also played well, scoring twice as many points as that of Lenoir-Rhyne. But the Lady Bears grabbed more rebounds, resulting in more second chances for themselves, and fewer for the Lady Bobcats.
The Lady Bobcats’ next game is Dec. 1, a rematch against Lenoir-Rhyne in North Carolina. Two weeks later, the team will travel to Augusta to play Augusta State University in its first conference game of the season. The Lady Bobcats’ next home game will be on Dec. 29, when they play No. 13-ranked Wingate University during the Craig Massee Real Estate Classic.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Nov 21 2008. Filed under Sports.
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