LITTLE ROCK — Lately, the Bryant Lady Hornets freshman team has been winning late, coming from behind. But, on Monday at the McCauley Center at Mount St. Mary Academy, the Lady Hornets got[more] off to a strong start and held on for a 36-31 victory.
The Lady Hornets include Aubree Allen, Jessica Alliston, Andrea Buford, Ashlee Caton, Caylin Choate, Dezarea Duckworth, Kaitlyn Greer, Keedy Harrison, Taylor Matthews, Dee-Dee Mosby, Melinda Murdock, Amber Newman, Destiny Nichols, Brittany Privett, Erica Smith, Rori Whittaker and Alex Wright.
The win was the third in a row for the Lady Hornets who improved to 7-3 overall going into a trip to Vilonia on Thursday that will complete their pre-holiday schedule. They’ll be back in action after Christmas in the Kameron Hale Invitational Tournament at Lake Hamilton on Wednesday, Dec. 29.
Bryant took a 10-6 lead in the first quarter of Monday’s game. The Lady Hornets extended the margin to 24-16 by halftime. The Mounties made a run at them in the second half and trailed just 28-22 going into the fourth quarter.
“It was nice to finally come out and play well the first half,” acknowledged Lady Hornets coach Nathan Castaldi. “We did not execute as well as I wanted, but it is hard to complain about scoring 24 points in a half.”
Bryant was led offensively by Duckworth’s 12 points. Whittaker added 9, Allen 4. Murdock contributed 3 points and Nichols and Newman had 2 apiece.
“We still need to get better defensively,” Castaldi mentioned. “We are still reaching too much and give up easy baskets because we take ourselves out of position.
“In the second half, I think we got a little comfortable with out lead and played a little sloppy,” he added. “Instead of taking our time and executing our offense, we rushed some things. However, Mount St. Mary is a very difficult place to play, so anytime you can get a win there it is a good thing.”
