MEMPHIS-Visiting North Alabama handed the Christian Brothers University an 80-61 loss on Senior Day Saturday, but the Lady Bucs wrapped up the No. 8 seed in next week's GSC Tournament anyway.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
• After a back-and-forth first 13 minutes, the Lions (19-9, 13-9 GSC) seized control with a 29-5 run bridging the final six minutes of the first half and the first seven minutes of the second, turning a 23-20 CBU lead to a 49-28 Lion edge on a KeKe Gunter layup with 3:30 remaining.
• The Lady Bucs (13-13, 10-12) used a 9-2 burst to close within 70-56 on a
Madison Luckett (Memphis, Tenn./St. Benedict HS) layup with 1:28 remaining, but they were unable to come any closer.
KEY STATS:
•
Samantha Reeves (Somerville, Tenn./Fayette Academy) finished with 19 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block in her final home game.
•
Courtney Banks (Memphis, Tenn./White Station HS) scored 12 with five assists and two steals.
• Luckett scored eight with five rebounds and two assists on her Senior Day.
• The Lady Bucs shot 41.1 percent (23-of-56) from the field, including 30 percent (6-of-20) from three-point range. UNA finished 47.6 percent (30-of-63) overall, including 38.7 percent (12-of-31) from beyond the arc.
• The Lady Bucs out-rebounded UNA 38-32, including an 11-9 edge in offensive boards. CBU committed 16 turnovers to the Lions' 12.
SENIOR DAY:
CBU recognized three seniors before the game:
Alexis Haddock (Collinwood, Tenn./Collinwood HS), Luckett and Reeves.
HEAD COACH SARAH CONDRA'S THOUGHTS:
"Tempo was going to be big and this was a game that we needed to keep at 60. Especially when we're down one of our leading scorers, we're not very successful when we give up more than 65, we're just not. We tried so many different things. We wanted to take away the paint, because they're really good at the drive and kick. They got threes, they got in the paint, they got fouls. It just didn't work."
On her senior class:
"It's a special group. You get really close with them, especially since Sam had the extra year. So you get attached to them. They're very special players, but they're very special kids. As good as they are on the court, they're even better people. That's what's made it such a blessing to coach them. This program does not have a huge history of success if you go back and look. It takes a lot to turn around a program and get it moving in the right direction. I think these two seniors have helped us. Although it's been a slow process, they've helped us get that going. It may not show up as much in the numbers and the records, but the thing that has to happen first is you've got to have a belief. And before anything happens on the court, you've got to believe it. And this group, especially Maddie and Sam, because they've been here a little longer, really helped in that. They really helped believe that we could beat Union, that we could beat Harding. They've really helped try to change the mindset, and that's the first thing you've got to change when you try to change the history of a program. Their fingerprints will be all over the future history of this program. It was a blessing to coach all of them."
On Tuesday's matchup with West Florida:
"We've played them well. We lost by one here, and I thought we played really well defensively down there, but we shot 25 percent from the field. If we can have the same kind of defensive effort that we had in the games here and down there but get the offense flowing a little better, I like our chances."
WHAT'S NEXT:
The Lady Bucs hit the road Tuesday night to visit top-seeded West Florida in the GSC quarterfinals. The winner advances to Homewood, Ala., where they will play Saturday afternoon against either No. 4 seed West Georgia or No. 5 seed North Alabama. Tuesday's other quarterfinals feature No. 7 seed Delta State at No. 2 seed Valdosta State and No. 6 seed Union at No. 3 seed Lee.
