Fast start, forced turnovers lift Lady Hornets past Southside
EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the look back at each day in Bryant athletic history has been so favorably received during the time when there was no sports during the COVID-19 shutdown, BryantDaily.com will continueposting past stories of Bryant athletics either posted on BryantDaily.com (from 2009 to the present) or published in the Bryant Times (from 1998 to 2008).
FORT SMITH — Bryant Lady Hornets head coach Brad Matthews said that all you needed to know about his team’s disappointing 47-45 loss at home to Little Rock Central on Friday night was that they had just four assists.
As it turned out, the Lady Hornets had at least that many in the first quarter alone as they bounced back from that defeat with a 50-26 road win over the Fort Smith Southside Lady Mavericks in 6A-Central Conference play on Tuesday night.
The other key to the victory was the Bryant defense forcing a whopping 37 Southside turnovers.
“We got off to a great start forcing turnovers and getting out in transition, making baskets,” Matthews said. “I’m really proud of our kids for being ready to play from the tip after a long bus ride. It was a good bounce-back win after a tough game on Friday.”
Bryant improved to 11-4 overall and 2-2 in league play, Southside remains winless.
The Lady Hornets host Cabot on Friday and Matthews called it a big game. The Lady Panthers are one of four teams ahead of them in the standings. It will also mark the final appearance as a coach in Bryant by Cabot’s Carla Crowder, a longtime head coach of the Lady Hornets.
Nine different Bryant players contributed to the scoring, led by McKenzie Muse with 10. Kalia Walker had 9 and Lexie Taylor 6.
Melanie Rice paced Southside with 11 points.
Muse scored 7 of her 10 in the first two minutes of the game, starting with a 3 after she’d made a steal at the other end.
Rice scored to break the ice for the Lady Mavs but Bryant’s Celena Martin drove for a bucket and, after a Southside timeout, India Atkins scored as she was fouled, making it 11-2.
Taylor Grist hit two free throws for the Lady Mavs but then Bryant scored the last 11 points of the quarter.
Russ fed Taylor for a layup then, off a steal, Taylor scored again. Allison Steen picked up an assist by lacing a pass to Russ for a bucket and a 17-4 lead.
In the final 30 seconds of the quarter, Walker buried a 3 and Atkins hit a layup in the final seconds to make it 22-4.
Southside did reach double digits in its scoring until a 3-pointer by Gabby Caldwell in the final seconds. That, in fact, was the Lady Mavs only field goal of the quarter.
Before that, Bryant had built as much as a 20-point lead.
After Robyn Gordon canned a jumper in the lane to start the scoring in the second half, the Lady Mavs rallied, trimming the lead to 13 before Tierra Trotter hit a 3 after taking a kick-out pass from Steen.
Southside cut it again, down to 33-20 but the Lady Hornets forced a 10-second backcourt violation that led to a three-point play by Russ, who drove the left side of the lane.
Behind Russ, Walker hit a layup and Trotter connected on a pair at the line to make it 40-20 going into the fourth quarter.
The largest lead of the game was 25. It came at the 2:20 mark of the fourth when Sierra Trotter hit a layup off another fine feed from Steen.
LADY HORNETS 50, LADY MAVERICKS 26
Score by quarters
BRYANT 22 6 12 10 — 50
FS Southside 4 8 8 6 — 26
LADY HORNETS (11-4, 2-2) 50
T.Trotter 1-9 2-2 5, Atkins 2-4 0-1 4, Martin 2-8 1-2 5, Gordon 2-7 0-1 4, Muse 4-6 1-2 10, Taylor 2-2 2-2 6, Steen 0-5 0-2 0, Russ 2-3 1-1 5, Walker 3-9 2-2 9, Scifres 0-0 0-2 0, S.Trotter 1-2 0-0 2, Deaton 0-0 0-1 0. Totals19-55 (35%) 9-18 (50%) 50.
LADY MAVERICKS (0-14, 0-4) 26
Harris 0-1 1-2 1, Fon-Coupon 0-1 0-1 1, Rice 3-7 5-9 11, Grist 1-5 2-2 4, E.Graham 0-3 4-4 4, R.Graham 1-5 0-0 3, Lareno 0-0 0-1 0, Forsgren 0-0 0-0 0, Caldwell 1-1 0-0 3, Reed 0-0 0-0 0. Totals6-23 (26%) 12-19 (63%) 26.
Three-point field goals:Bryant 3-16 (Walker 1-6, T.Trotter 1-5, Muse 1-2, Atkins 0-2, S.Trotter 0-1), FS Southside 2-6 (R.Graham 1-4, Calwell 1-1, Harris 0-1). Turnovers:Bryant 17, FS Southside 37. Rebounds:Bryant 14-13 27 (Steen 2-4 6, Gordon 1-4 5, Russ 2-3 5, Martin 3-0 3, Muse 1-1 2, Taylor 1-0 1, Scifres 1-0 1, Walker 0-1 1, team 3-0 3), FS Southside 10-23 43 (E.Graham 3-5 8, Grist 1-6 7, Harris 1-3 4, Rice 1-3 4, R.Graham 1-1 2, Fon-Coupon 1-0 1, Forsgren 0-1 1, Reed 0-1 1, team 2-3 5). Team fouls:Bryant 18, FS Southside 14.
