Berea Bounces Back
Berea College’s Lady Mountaineers overcame a 15 point halftime deficit to defeat the Covenant College Lady Scots 68-60. The outcome at half seemed all but decided, however the girls fought back in the second half opening the press and forcing the Lady Scots into 17 second half turnover. The opening half saw the Lady Scots baffle the Lady Mounties with a 2-3 zone, forcing Berea to shoot 17.6% from the field and 12.5% from the three point line causing the score to be 33-18 at half. Berea allowed the Lady Scots to shoot 36.8% from the field and 33.3% from the three point line. Berea’s first half struggles can also be attributed to the 10 turnovers committed and being outrebounded 28-23. Covenant’s Joanna Smith was a dominant force throughout the game, having 4 offensive rebounds in the first half alone and she finished with an astounding 16 points and 23 rebounds. Bri Lanham led Berea scorers with 7 points at half. When preparing for the Covenant’s Joanna Smith, Bri Lanham stated, “She wasn’t really killing us on scoring it was her rebounding. We had to secure every rebound, especially defensive, we had to limit her from getting those easy put backs.” Smith set a school record with her 23 rebounds.
Berea quickly turned the tide in the second half jumping into a 2-1-2 zone press and starting 13-2 point run. This quickly changed the attitude for Berea but also the fans in attendance as you could feel the energy in the building feel a spark. A sort of cosmic energy where hopes start to rise and dreams become alive again. As the Lady Mountaineers pressed the Scots, they continued to hit big buckets off of the turnovers they were forcing. In the third quarter Berea outscored Covenant 34-10 to take a 52-43 lead into the fourth and they did not look back. Capping the comeback in the fourth as Smith fouled out with a minute left in the game. When asked about what changed the second half, Lanham said, “That team beat us at their place last time we played them. After we talked in the locker room at halftime we knew we couldn’t let them beat us again if we wanted to be at the top for our conference. We came out in a new press and it looked good. We might have to use it more often.”
Bri Lanham got a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds with 7 of them coming in the second half and 5 coming from the offensive side of the ball. Adriana Williams contributed 16 points and 7 assists and Kailey Barnard finished with 14 points, 12 coming in the second half with four huge three point shots. Berea improves to 13-2 and stays home to face the Lady Knights of Kentucky Christian University. Covenant falls to 6-11 and travel to Lagrange on Tuesday.
