Pippa Passes, KY: After not playing a single game in over a month, the Alice Lloyd College Lady Eagles finally returned to the hardwood on Friday, December 11 as they hosted the always tough Rio Grande University Lady Red Storm. In a high-octane affair, ALC prevailed 98-94 over their River States Conference foe.
The COVID epidemic had decimated the Lady Eagles schedule. They opened the season on November 3rd with a win at Milligan College, but unfortunately, every other game on their schedule until now had been either postponed or canceled.
Coach John Mills’s cagers were chomping at the bit to finally play an actual game. In the opening quarter, the two squads traded buckets as both looked to get their bearings straight. The hosts received seven points from sophomore center Emma Maggard, but the Red Storm led 19-17 after ten minutes.
In the second stanza, Alice Lloyd spread out their offense as nine ladies scored. This led to a 25-19 period advantage and sent them into the locker room with a 42-38 lead.
As the third period began, the two clubs battled each other the entire way, ALC would receive a combined 25 points from senior guards Haley Hall and Ali May to win the quarter by one, 25-24. The hosts would lead 67-62 entering the final ten minutes.
The last period would see Hall and May bag back-to-back bombs to pull the advantage out to double-digits (78-67). However, the visitors rode the play of Haley Jordan and Lexi Woods to come back and tie the score at 86 with just 2:13 remaining.
Fortunately, the Lady Eagles came through in the clutch and drained the big free throws to chalk the “W” up in the victory column for the Pippa Passes crew. Even though the victory is against a conference opponent, the game will not count towards the conference standings with the revised schedule, as the two squads are in opposite divisions.
For the victors (2-0), four players reached double figures. May and Hall played well and combined for 46 big points (24 and 22 respectively). May hit 6-16 field goals including 3-6 long bombs and drilled 9-11 free throws. Hall finished 8-16 from the floor and 5-6 from the charity stripe. She added 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block.
Maggard played big and scored a career-high 17 points (7-12 FG) and added 4 boards and 2 blocks. Senior guard Shelby Davis chipped in with 12 points and 6 rebounds.
Sophomore guard Hanna Kash knocked down 7 points and tied with 4 assists, senior Alex Clifton led the way with 3 blocks and grabbed 7 boards, and freshman Madison Thompson led with 8 rebounds and tied with 3 blocks.
Alice Lloyd finished shooting 42.1% (32-76) from the field and 26.3% (5-19) from deep while connecting on 82.9% (29-36) from the foul line. They also added 51 rebounds, 17 assists, 10 big blocks, and 3 steals.
Rio was led by Jordan with 25 points. Her club finished shooting 40.5% (32-79) from the floor and 20% (3-15) from behind the arc. They shot 69.2% (27-39) from the foul line. They also added 48 rebounds, 18 assists, and 9 steals
ALC plays their next game on Wednesday, December 30th when they travel to Rio Grande for a return battle.