Temple Terrace, FL — For the 2nd consecutive night, the Lady Eagles were unable to overcome a poor shooting performance on the road against NCCAA #9 ranked Grace Bible College. The Lady Eagles shot just 27% (20-75) from the field and a measly 9% (3-32) from behind the three-point arch.

Starting the game, the Lady Eagles looked like they had moved past their shooting struggles from the night before against Wesleyan College. They started the game off quickly by going on an early 5-0 run versus the Tigers. Senior Joy Smith would open the scoring for the Lady Eagles with an early three-point field goal. The Lady Eagles battled throughout the remainder of the 1st quarter, but would trail by 2 with 30 seconds remaining in the quarter. Senior forward Hannah Sailors came through with a big three-pointer to give the Lady Eagles a 1-point lead heading into the 2nd quarter.

In the 2nd quarter, the Lady Eagles shooting woes would come back to haunt them. Neither team would score in the first 5 minutes of the 2nd quarter. Jessica Boyd started the scoring in the quarter with a long-three pointer to give the Lady Eagles a four point lead midway through the 2nd quarter. Grace Bible College went on a 9-2 run to close out the 2nd quarter and took a 28-25 lead into the locker room at halftime. In the 2nd quarter, our Lady Eagles shot just 13% from the field and a meager 9% from behind the 3-point line. At the half, Joy Smith led the Lady Eagles with 7 points while Jessica Boyd snatched a team-high 11 rebounds.

At the half, Jared Sellars was asked about his team's cold shooting performance. He said, "We played hard in that 1st half, but our shots just were not falling. I felt like this led to some frustration which ultimately snowballed as the half went on."

Heading into the 2nd half, the Lady Eagles looked to mount a comeback. Grace Bible College came out firing in the 3rd quarter leading to an early 10-2 run that stretched their lead to 7 points. The Lady Eagles narrowed the deficit to 5 points several times throughout the remainder of the quarter, but were ultimately unable to bring the score any closer. With 8 seconds remaining in the quarter, Jessica Boyd drained a field goal to bring the Lady Eagles within 9 points.

In the final quarter, the Lady Eagles were unable to mount a comeback run against the Tigers. The Tigers widened their lead up to as many as 19 points during the remainder of the game. The Lady Eagles would go on to lose the game by a final score of 67-50. On the night, Joy Smith again led the Lady Eagles with 10 points. Jessica Boyd also added a team-high 12 rebounds in the contest. The Lady Eagles shot just 27% from the floor compared to 31% for the visiting Tigers. The largest margin came from behind the three-point line where the Lady Eagles shot just 9% on the night compared to 35% for Grace Bible College.

Jared Sellars was asked to break down the game after the final whistle. He responded, "I felt like we played hard tonight, but credit Grace [Bible College] for their performance. They had a good game-plan and shot the ball slightly better than we did." He would go on to say, "Our bench brought good energy tonight. They outscored the Tigers bench 19-13 and by 10 in the 4th quarter. We are going to look to make some adjustments tomorrow against Johnson University of Tennessee that will hopefully lead to a better outcome."

With the loss, the Lady Eagles recorded sits at 6-8 on the season. They will be back in action today against Johnson University of Tennessee, who come in with a 1-12 record, at 11:00 am CT in the 2nd round of the Florida College Classic in Temple Terrace, FL.