Chillicothe, OH: The Alice Lloyd Lady Eagles traveled to the Buckeye state on Tuesday for a River States Conference showdown with the strong Lady Trailblazers of Ohio Christian University. In a high scoring affair, the Lady Eagles fell 101-97.
The start of the game saw the two squads quickly get into an up-tempo style. Behind the one-two punch of Staci Densmore and Rachel Gillum, OCU jumped out 29-24 after ten minutes of play.
In the second quarter, the visitors would use a balanced attack to take the quarter 25-22 and Ohio Christian would hold a slim 51-49 advantage going into the dressing room.
In the third stanza, the ladies from Caney Creek came out with a solid stretch of ball on both ends. After Densmore nailed an opening bucket to put OCU ahead by four (53-49), the Lady Eagles would see junior guard Ali May and freshman center Emma Maggard combine for 9 points to propel their squad on an 18-6 blitz over the next five minutes. When the dust settled, ALC had pulled out to their biggest lead of the night at 67-59.
Unfortunately, the home club would respond as their two big guns would team up to score thirteen points. The outburst allowed OCU to close the stanza on an 18-4 run and regain the lead (77-71) at periods end.
In the final quarter, the Lady Eagles would fall behind by eleven points (93-82) before exploding from long range. When May drained a deep three with just .10 remaining, the deficit was down to three (100-97). Unfortunately, Ohio sank 1-2 free throws to finally slam the door shut.
For Alice Lloyd (8-6; 1-3 RSC), May sank 6-9 from long range to lead the way with 22 points. Senior forward Jayla Spurlock, junior guard Haley Hall, and freshman guard Jasmine Eley all had 13 points. Juniors Shelby Davis and Alex Clifton, along with Maggard, each contributed 10 points to the cause. Davis led the club with 8 rebounds while Spurlock and Eley both handed out 9 assists. May recorded 2 steals.
ALC played well on the offensive end, shooting 49.3% (36-73) from the field and 46.9% (15-32) from long range. They would finish at 90.9% (10-11) from the charity stripe. Additionally, they registered 36 rebounds, 28 assists, and 4 steals.
OCU (12-5;2-2 RSC) was led by Dinsmore (29) and Gillum (28). Their club connected on 48.1% (38-79) from the field and 37.5 % (6-16) from long range. At the foul line, they went 19-28 for 67.9%. They also had 37 rebounds, 14 assists, and 16 big steals.
The Lady Eagles return to action this Saturday when they travel to Richmond, Indiana, to face Indiana University East in a conference tilt at 1:00 pm.