ALC Lady Eagles Open Season

{nl}{nl}{nl} {nl}{nl}Alice Lloyd forward Gemma Gray drives baseline for 2.{nl} {nl}The Alice Lloyd College Lady Eagles basketball team opened the Betty Noble-Acevedo era on a high note as they cruised to a convincing 95- 49 victory over the Hiwassee Tigers. The season opening matchup was played Saturday afternoon at the Grady Nutt Athletic Center.{nl}Coach Noble-Acevedo returned to her alma mater and showed that she plans to play an up-tempo brand of ball. The fans in attendance did not leave disappointed as five players reached double figures in the scoring column.{nl}The game started out well as both clubs scored early and often. The Tigers, sparked by the 6’0 inside tandem of Bethany Allen and Chelsea Simbeck, had the contest knotted at 18 apiece at the 12:06 mark.{nl}At this point, Coach Noble-Acevedo switched to a swarming pressure defense. The increased tenacity led to several turnovers by the Tigers and jump-started ALC’s high octane offense.{nl}Sparked by junior guard Bailey Gabbard’s three long range bombs and a handful of steals that led to easy transition buckets, ALC went on a 25-5 run and settled for a 54-29 lead by intermission.{nl}In the second half, the Eagles kept up the pressure as all twelve players who saw action played effectively. Hiwassee was never able to cut into the deficit as ALC extended the final margin of victory to 46 points.{nl}For ALC, Gabbard (Knoxville, Tn.) led the way with 14 points on 5-9 shooting (including 4-7 from behind the arc). She was closely followed by 12 points from steady junior Nicole Lutes (Breathitt Co.). {nl}Nikki Durman (Lexington Tates Creek) provided a big spark off the bench as the sophomore registered a double-double with 12 points and 13 big rebounds.{nl}Powerful junior Chelsea Jarrell (Paintsville) had 10 points to go along with 6 rebounds and 2 steals, and junior Heather Dean (McDowell), playing in her first collegiate game, came off the bench to chip in with 10 points and 4 rebounds.{nl}Lighting quick junior point guard Bree Frazier (Louisa) led the way with 9 assists and 2 steals, and ran the floor show to perfection. She also added 4 points (including two on a beautiful one handed scoop shot).{nl}The sophomore tandem of Gemma Gray (Manchester) and Alfie Felter (Hazard) also provided solid play. Gray chipped in with 9 points and 9 rebounds, while Felter added 7 points and 8 rebounds of her own.{nl}For Hiwassee, they were led in scoring by Allen and guard Jaryn Davis with 15 points apiece. Simbeck added 9.{nl}For the night, ALC connected on 34-61 (55.7%) from the field, including 9-18 (50%) from long range. They also hit 18-28 (64.2%) from the charity stripe.{nl}After the game Coach Noble-Acevedo stated, “I was pleased overall with our performance for the first game. I thought we played excellent as a team and moved the ball very well. We have a lot of things to work on, but these girl’s know what is needed from them. I was also very pleased with the play from our bench. If we can get consistency every night then that will go a long way in taking our team where we want to go. We now have to get ready for a tough battle next Tuesday, but I am hopeful that tonight’s game can help prepare us.”{nl}The Lady Eagles return to the hardwood on Tuesday November 3rd, when they face the highly regarded Kentucky Christian University Lady Knights. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00.