The Alice Lloyd College Lady Eagles were as cold as the Arctic winter in the first half, and it cost them the game as they suffered a 51-46 KIAC Conference loss to the Berea College Lady Mountaineers last night. The game was played at the Grady Nutt Athletic Center. In the opening stanza, ALC jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead in the first four minutes of the contest. Unfortunately for the hosts, their shooting eye would desert them after that. Alice Lloyd would only account for seven more points over the remainder of the half. The ladies had good looks at the hoop, but the ball refused to go in. When the buzzer sounded at intermission, the Eagles trailed by an uncharacteristic score of 23-14. The stats showed the extent of the damage as the Eagles only connected on 6-28 from the floor during the entire half.

Gabbard on the floor versus Berea

In the second half, ALC looked to make up lost ground as they shot somewhat better from the field. Sparked by 10 points from senior Bailey Gabbard, Alice Lloyd came back to take their first lead of the half (32-31) with 10:59 remaining. An Ariel Nickell bucket at 7:45 increased the Eagles’ cushion to three (39-36), and the hosts looked poised to finish a remarkable comeback. Unfortunately on their next possession, Berea guard Katelyn Butler would tie the score on a three-point play. The Mountaineers then settled down against the exhausted home club and used this momentum to outscore Alice Lloyd 13-7 to close the game and preserve their win. For ALC (7-18, 4-3 KIAC), Nickell led all scorers with 18 points. However, she did not have her usual dominate shooting performance, as she was forced to play with a face mask to protect her recently broken nose. Despite receiving several hard blows, the sophomore still exhibited her high-octane level of hustle and managed to rip down a game-high 12 rebounds. Gabbard stepped up her game in the second half and swished in 15 points to the cause. Freshman Carla McDaniel played well and contributed 10 points and 7 rebounds to the Eagles’ effort. Berea’s record now stands at 6-17 (3-5 KIAC).