Earn Sixth Straight Win
Pippa Passes, KY: The Alice Lloyd College Lady Eagles came through with an impressive 30-point second quarter, and rode that momentum to take down a solid Indiana University-East Lady Red Wolves squad, 98-82. The River States Conference matchup was played Saturday, January 8th.
In the opening period, IUE would jump ahead quickly. Behind the shooting of guard Addie Brown, they would pull ahead 24-16, following a layup at 2:36. Due to her blazing play, East would lead 25-20 after ten minutes of action. In the second quarter, things started badly for the home club as leading scorer, senior guard Haley Hall, was forced to exit the contest after just one minute due to foul trouble. However, the Pippa Passes crew refused to take this lying down.
Freshman guard Madison Ward came off the bench and offered a huge shot in the arm, by pumping in 8 points, while seven of her teammates dented the scoring column as well in a solid display of teamwork. When the buzzer sounded for intermission, the Lady Eagles had pumped in 30 huge points while holding the Red Wolves to 17. The blitz would allow the hosts to take a 50-42 lead into intermission.
As the third period began, the Lady Eagles would ramp up their defense and hold East to 3-15 field-goal shooting and just 15 points. In the meantime, the senior duo of center Bailee Brainard and guard Ali May would combine for 11 of their squads 21 stanza points. Suddenly, the Kentucky squad would be in command, 71-57 entering the last quarter.
In the final ten minutes, the Caney Creek crew would see Hall go absolutely berserk on offense, as she pumped in 15 points without missing a shot to ensure there would be no chance of a comeback. The Indiana squad would get no closer than 11 points as Alice Lloyd would control the game and earn the impressive win.
For the victors (11-4; 4-2 RSC), four players would reach double-figures. They were led on the night by Hall with 21 points (6-7 FG; 3-3 3FG; 6-6 FT). She added 2 rebounds and 2 assists. Fellow senior guards May and Hanna Kash were right behind with 17 and 16 points respectively. Kash led everyone with 8 assists. Brainard was a perfect 5-5 from the floor and chipped in with 12 points. She tied freshman forward Madison Thompson with 6 rebounds apiece. Ward added 9 points to the cause while Thompson had 2 steals and tied senior center Alex Clifton with 2 rejections. Sophomore guard Hannah Malcomson dished off 6 assists of her own.
The Caney Club finished shooting 50% (35-70) from the field and 33.3% (8-24) from long range. They connected on 87% from the charity line (20-23), while adding 45 rebounds, 24 assists, 6 steals, and 5 blocks.
IUE (13-5; 4-2 RSC) was paced by Brown with 27 points. Her squad finished shooting 31.3% (21-67) from the field and 24.1% (7-29) from behind the arc. From the foul line, they finished 82.5% (33-40). They also added 39 rebounds, 14 assists, and 11 steals.
The Lady Eagles return to action this week when they travel to Pittsburgh for two big conference tilts. On Thursday January 13th they will face the Carlow Celtics at 5:30 pm. They then remain in the big city to face the Point Park University Pioneers on Saturday, January 15th, at 3:00 pm.