Haley Hall
Pippa Passes, KY: The Alice Lloyd College Lady Eagles gave Coach John Mills a few anxious moments before pulling away to earn an 86-79 overtime victory over the Brescia University Lady Bearcats. The huge River States Conference matchup took place on Saturday, February 2.
In the opening quarter, the Lady Eagles jumped out to a quick start, courtesy of eight early points from sophomore guard Haley Hall. With 5:41 showing the score read 12-4.
However, the home club would dominate the last part of the quarter as they would close out on a 14-7 run to trail 19-18 at the horn.
In the second stanza, the visitors would once again creep out to a lead. Sparked by seven points from Hall and five apiece from junior guard Katie Moore and sophomore center Alex Clifton, the Caney Creek ladies would lead to 41-36 at intermission.
The girls from Owensboro would respond in the third stanza.
Aaliyah Rogers led her club out of the gate on a run that would eventually see her squad take the lead (48-46).
Trailing 60-53 with under two minutes remaining in the period, ALC guards Ali May and Courtney Vasquez would combine for five points. However, the hosts would take a 60-58 advantage heading into the final ten minutes.
In the fourth, the game became a slugfest as the two clubs battled point-for-point, knowing how much was at stake.
Finally, with just .32 left to play, Brescia led 75-73 and had the ball. After a miss, ALC grabbed the rebound and raced down court. Hall was fouled and calmly tied the score at 75 apiece with two clutch free throws.
After a Bearcat miss, the Lady Eagles had time to get a good shot. When Moore sank a big jumper with only .04 on the clock, her club led 77-75.
However. BU got the ball out at midcourt. They quickly went inside and tossed up an attempt at the buzzer. Incredibly, it rolled in to force overtime, 77-77.
Fortunately, in overtime, ALC came out determined to end any drama. Hall opened things with a triple to give her team a quick lead (80-77).
After BU missed, the Lady Eagles worked the ball patiently before feeding it to Clifton, whose inside power move lifted her squad to an 82-77 edge. From that point, her teammates iced the game from the charity stripe.
For the victors (13-8; 9-5 RSC), Hall led all scorers with 24 points and added 3 steals and 2 assists. Moore was close behind with 17 points.
Clifton and freshman guard Hannah Kash each added 13 points. Kash also led in rebounds with 5. Senior center Emilee Harrell chipped in with 10 points and 2 blocks.
Alice Lloyd finished shooting 42.9% (30-70) from the field, including 27.8% (5-18) from long range. They connected on 77.8% (21-27) from the foul line. They also added 42 rebounds, 6 assists, and 7 steals.
For Brescia (7-17; 5-8 RSC), Rogers led the way with 14 points. Her club shot 39.7% (29-73) from the floor and 29.2% (7-24) from behind the arc. They sank 70% (14-20) from the foul line. They also added 48 rebounds, 13 assists, and 8 steals.
ALC returns to action on Tuesday, February 5th as they host Cincinnati Christian University in an important conference match at 5:30 pm. They hit the road Saturday, February 9th when they face division leader Indiana University Kokomo at 1:00 pm.