The Lady Eagles were unable to overcome their shooting woes in their road loss against the Wesleyan College Wolves. Despite coming into the night ranked #2 in the most recent NCCAA DII Women's Basketball poll, the Lady Eagles were unable to live up to those lofty expectations.
From the tip-off, the Lady Eagles looked out of rhythm in their first game back after a nearly month-long layoff. Wesleyan College quickly took control from the opening tip. Two quick three-point field goals and a free throw by the Wolves guards would put them up 7-0. The Lady Eagles struggled to find their way on offense early in the game. They would start the game 0-11 from the field until
Joy Smith, a Macon, GA native, drained a three-pointer to start the scoring for the Lady Eagles. The quarter would end with the Lady Eagles trailing 14-8 to Wesleyan College.
In the 2nd quarter, the Lady Eagles would slowly start to find the basket. An early three-pointer by senior
Lauren Battle would cut the Wolves lead in half. The score would remain close throughout the quarter, but the Wolves would head to the half with the same 6-point advantage. In the 1st half,
Marlee Moore and
Joy Smith each added 7 points to pace the Lady Eagles.
Ashton Welborn chipped in 8 rebounds and
Marlee Moore added 2 blocks.
Asked after the game about the Lady Eagles shooting woes in the 1st half, Head Coach
Jared Sellars said, "I felt like we came out very rusty. This was our first game in a month. We needed to be taking better shots in order to help us regain our confidence."
Entering the 3rd quarter, the Lady Eagles were forced to rely on their defense as a way to kick-start their slumping offense. The Lady Eagles defense, currently allowing just 55 points per game, would come through. In the 3rd quarter, the Lady Eagles were able to hold Wesleyan College to their lowest point total for a quarter on the night. The offense would finally wake up, leading to 16 points in the crucial 3rd quarter. At the end of the quarter, the Lady Eagles had narrowed the deficit to just 3 points with one quarter of play remaining.
Despite the 3rd quarter momentum, the rust mentioned earlier showed up in the 4th quarter, leading to just 13 points. The Wolves were able to withstand a late barrage from the Lady Eagles to earn a hard fought 60-55 home victory. In the loss,
Joy Smith led the team with 17 points and 5 rebounds.
Ashton Welborn narrowly missed a double-double scoring 8 points and fetching 13 rebounds. On the night, the Lady Eagles shot just 29% from the floor and 20% from behind the three-point line.
After the girls exited the locker room,
Jared Sellars was asked what he told them. He said, "I told them we didn't play well tonight. Wesleyan is not going to feel sorry for us. We need to get up and go play a better game tomorrow." He would further go on to say, "I take a lot of the responsibility for this loss. There are definitely a couple things I should have done differently to give our girls a better shot at victory tonight."
With the loss, the Lady Eagles recorded drops to 6-7 on the season. There next game will be against Grace Bible College, who come in with a 3-10 record, at 3:00 pm CT in the 1st round of the Florida College Classic in Temple Terrace, FL.
