Chillicothe, OH: The Alice Lloyd Lady Eagles traveled to the Buckeye state on February 3rd for a River States Conference showdown with the strong Lady Trailblazers of Ohio Christian University. In one of their best efforts of the year, the Lady Eagles won, 95-77.
The start of the game saw the two squads quickly get into an up-tempo style. Behind seven points from senior sharpshooter Ali May, ALC jumped out 28-21 after ten minutes of play.
In the second quarter, the visitors would use a balanced attack with May and senior guard Haley Hall leading the charge. In all, six players dented the scorebook for 26 more points over ten minutes Because of this team effort, the Lady Eagles were able to push their advantage to 54-43 going into the dressing room at intermission.
In the third stanza, the ladies from Caney Creek would not score as often, but they compensated by tightening up on the defensive end. They would stretch their lead to 17 on a bomb from May, and still hold a solid 72-59 advantage at quarter’s end.
In the final period, the Lady Eagles would see senior centers Alexandria Clifton and Bailee Brainard dominate the action in the paint as the lead would balloon to 20 points. When the final horn at last sounded, Coach John Mills’ crew had earned the convincing victory.
For Alice Lloyd (5-5), four players reached double-digits. May sank 4-8 from long range to lead the way with 20 points. Hall, and Brainard each contributed 15 points while Clifton was right behind with 14. Freshman Hannah Malcomson chipped in with 9.
Hall and Clifton led the club with 7 rebounds apiece while senior guard Shelby Davis led the way with 6 assists and 3 steals. Clifton was also a defensive force as she swatted 5 shots.
ALC played well on the offensive end, shooting 47% (39-83) from the field and 50% (11-22) from long range. Uncharacteristically, they would finish at only 54.5% (6-11) from the charity stripe. Additionally, they dominated the glass, registering 50 rebounds. They added 21 assists, and 7 steals.
OCU (7-6) was led by Rachel Gillum with 25 points and 16 rebounds. Her club connected on just 33.3% (23-69) from the field and 15.4 % (2-13) from long range. At the foul line, they went 29-35 for 82.9%. They also had 32 rebounds, 9 assists, and 5 steals.
The Lady Eagles return to action next week in two challenging conference matchups. First, on Tuesday the 9th, they host Indiana University Southeast at 5:00 pm. They then travel to Midway, Kentucky, next Saturday to face Midway University at 1:00 pm.