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Kalia Walker (22) goes up for a shot between Conway’s Myia Yelder (5) and Maggie Evans (34). (Photo by Kevin Nagle)
CONWAY — It was far from the season they dreamed it’d be. Nonetheless, the Bryant Lady Hornets kept after it right down to the end, which came unceremoniously on Friday night at Buzz Bolding Arena where the Conway Lady Cats handed the Lady Hornets a 64-30 loss.
As had been the case much of the season, Bryant struggled to score but there was a ray of hope for the future as sophomore Mary Catherine Selig hit 9 of 10 shots and all three of her free throws for a game-high 21 points.
Unfortunately, the rest of the team went 3 of 26 from the field with no one scoring more than 3 points.
It was a difficult end to a difficult season for Lady Hornets, especially seniors Kendal Rogers, Lania Ratliff, Riley Hill and Deja Rayford along with Morgan Walter and Sarah Palmer. Bryant will not advance to State Tournament play for the first time since the 2007-08 season.
On Friday, Hill hit a 3-pointer to account for the first points of the game but Conway then went on a 20-2 run to take control of the game. Selig interrupted along the way with a layup off a feed from Rogers that made it 9-5 at the time. But it was 18-5 going into the second quarter and 20-5 before Selig canned a 12-foot jumper to break a long silence.
Mary Catherine Selig finished with 21 points for Bryant Friday night. (Photo by Kevin Nagle)
Conway attempted a whopping 29 3-pointers in the game and converted 13 including five by Laura Ashworth who got the start on Senior Night. Seven different players hit 3’s.
The Lady Cats followed Selig’s basket with an 11-2 run in which Kelly Williams provided the lone Bryant basket. A 15-footer by Selig in the final minute of the half made it 31-11 at the intermission.
Conway opened the second half with a 9-0 surge to extend the lead to 40-11. Selig scored off an inbounds play and, after the Lady Cats’ Savannah Lowe drained a 3, Bryant’s Kalia Walker knocked down a trey in response. Cadrina Nolen countered with two free throws and, after a Bryant turnover, Selig made a steal and worked a two-on-one break with Walker to make it 45-18.
But 3’s from Myia Yelder and Nolen extended the margin to 51-18 going into the fourth quarter and the sportsmanship rule (running clock) went into effect.
The teams traded baskets the rest of the way though Conway’s included three more triples. Selig accounted for 11 of Bryant’s 12 points in the quarter. Rogers added a free throw.
LADY CATS 64, LADY HORNETS 30
Score by quarters
BRYANT 5 6 7 12 — 30
Conway 18 13 20 13 — 64
LADY HORNETS (3-23, 0-14) 30
Ratliff 0-2 0-0 0, Hill 1-5 0-0 3, Selig 9-10 3-3 21, Walker 1-6 0-0 3, Rogers 0-4 1-2 1, Williams 1-7-0-2 2, Rayford 0-2 0-0 0, Loveless 0-0 0-0 0, Gordon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-36 4-7 30.
LADY CATS (22-8, 9-5) 64
Ashworth 5-11 0-0 15, A.Wells 0-4 0-0 0, Lowe 5-8 1-2 13, Banks 5-10 4-4 15, Evans 0-0 0-0 0, Higgins 1-7 0-0 3, Smith 2-4 0-0 4, Nolen 1-3 2-2 5, Yelder 2-3 0-0 6, B.Wells 1-2 0-0 3, Roetzel 0-1 0-0 0, Netherlan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-53 7-8 64.
Three-point field goals: Bryant 2-13 (Hill 1-5, Walker 1-5, Williams 0-2, Rayford 0-1), Conway 13-29 (Ashworth 5-10, Lowe 2-3, Yelder 2-3, Higgins 1-5, Banks 1-2, B.Wells 1-2, Nolen 1-1, A.Wells 0-3). Turnovers: Bryant 22, Conway 6. Rebounds: Bryant 10-17 27 (Selig 3-3 6, Rogers 3-2 5, Ratliff 0-3 3, Hill 1-0 1, Williams 0-1 1, Rayford 0-1 1, Loveless 0-1 1, Gordon 0-1 1, team 3-5 8), Conway 13-16 29 (Evans 0-5 5, Banks 4-0 4, Lowe 2-1 3, Smith 1-2 3, Higgins 1-1 2, Nolen 1-1 2, Yelder 0-2 2, B.Wells 0-2 2, Ashworth 1-0 1, A.Wells 0-1 1, team 3-1 4). Team fouls: Bryant 11, Conway 8.
Kelly Williams looks to the hoop in front of Conway’s Laura Ashworth. (Photo by Kevin Nagle)
