Goshien sparks Bryant girls to win at Russellville
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).
By Rob Patrick
RUSSELLVILLE — In a game that had ebbed and flowed, the Russellville Cyclones, with three starters listed at 5-10 and another at 5-9, were grouped under the basket with just one Bryant Lady Hornets defender amidst them.
The first shot from 5-10 Jaimie Long was contested by Bryant’s Hannah Goshien. It missed. Long reached high for the rebound and shot again as Goshien defended. It missed and 5-10 Christen Pointer grabbed the carom for the Lady Cyclones over 5-10 teammate Amy Campbell and Goshien. With the Bryant defender’s hands up, Pointer missed as well and this time Goshien beat them all for the board and the Lady Hornets were off and running the other way.
It was a moment in the game that certainly would get overshadowed, first by the fact that the Lady Hornets improved to 3-0 in 7A-Central Conference play with a 68-54 road win, and second by the fact that Goshien scorched the nets for 20 points, hitting 7 of her 8 shot attempts, 4 of 5 from 3-point range.
Coincidentally or not, soon after Goshien’s solo battle under the basket, the Lady Hornets took off on a 7-0 run that completed a 22-3 blitz which put the Lady Hornets in command of the game.[more]
The game was tied at 12 when that streak started. Bryant had broken out to a 7-0 lead with an aggressive defense that the Lady Cyclones struggled mightily to overcome. Kenzee Calley and Alana Morris scored, the latter off a steal, then Goshien nailed her first triple.
With its size, Russellville eventually started making hay by hitting the offensive glass. Three-point plays by Mindy Cooper and Long fueled the rally that had the game even at 12 with 2:30 left in the first quarter.
The Lady Cyclones out-rebounded the Lady Hornets 39-29 but Bryant made up for that (and then some) by forcing 25 turnovers while committing just 11, six of which came in the fourth quarter with the game in control and reserves getting into the game.
A drive into the lane for a basket by senior guard Taylor Hughes snapped the tie and began Bryant’s game-breaking run. Anna Simpson forced a turnover and Haley Montgomery cashed it in with a layup. After Campbell scored for Russellville, Goshien flushed her second triple and Simpson added a free throw to make it 20-14 going into the second period.
A stickback by Simpson started the second quarter scoring. Morris, who finished with 16 points, made a steal and layup to give Bryant its first double-digit lead, 24-14.
Moments later, Morris and Shanika Johnson worked a 2-on-1 break to perfection for a layup by Johnson.
Campbell interrupted again with a free throw and when she missed the second shot, Long rebounded and scored.
Johnson’s miss led to Goshien’s one-vs.-three battle under the boards.
To finish the streak, Montgomery hit a free throw, Morris knocked down a jumper in the lane, Goshien buried another 3 and, off a turnover, took a feed from Simpson for a layup that made it 34-17.
Sparked by Ashley Regier, in off the bench, the Lady Cyclones closed the half with an 8-0 run to get within 34-25.
But that was as close as they’d get the rest of the game. It was 38-29 early in the third quarter when Goshien rained down her fourth troika. Hughes followed with a jumper from the corner and Morris made a steal and fed Hughes for a layup and a 45-29 advantage.
Long scored inside but Morris drilled a 3 and Montgomery made a steal that eventually led to her 18-foot jumper which gave the Lady Hornets their largest lead 50-31 with 3:01 left in the third quarter.
Bryant led 54-39 going into the final period.
Russellville was within 13 as late as the 3:41 mark but an offensive-rebound basket by Simpson, a steal by Montgomery that resulted in a trip to the free-throw line for her, and a driving layup by Morris bumped the margin back to 66-48 with 2:47 left.
Head coach Blake Condley eventually emptied the bench and Russellville was able to whittle into the lead in the final two minutes but Bryant’s Brooke Parish added a basket so the Lady Hornets kept the margin above the 13 points that are used at the end of a season for tiebreaking procedures if necessary.
But the win improved Bryant to 12-2 overall, 3-0 in conference play, tied with North Little Rock for first place.
LADY HORNETS 68, LADY CYCLONES 54
Score by quarters
BRYANT 20 14 20 14 — 68
Russellville 14 11 14 15 — 54
BRYANT (12-2, 3-0) 68
Player fg-fga ft-fta reb fls pts
o-d-t
Hughes 4-6 0-0 0-3 3 1 8
Goshien 7-8 2-3 3-5 8 2 20
Morris 7-11 1-2 2-3 5 2 16
Simpson 2-10 1-4 2-2 4 2 5
Calley 1-5 3-4 1-0 1 1 5
Montgomery 2-7 2-4 0-3 3 4 6
Johnson 3-11 0-0 1-0 1 4 6
Nelson 0-0 0-0 0-1 1 0 0
Parish 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 2
Stearns 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Tucker 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Neal 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Harrison 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Hendricks 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Team reb. 2-1 3
Totals 27-60 9-17 11-18 29 18 68
LADY CYCLONES (4-11, 0-3) 54
Player fg-fga ft-ft reb fls pts
o-d-t
Hudson 1-4 0-0 0-1 1 3 2
Long 6-12 3-3 7-2 9 0 15
Campbell 5-13 1-2 2-4 6 3 11
Cooper 4-7 3-3 1-4 5 1 13
Pointer 0-2 0-1 2-4 6 2 0
Regier 5-9 2-3 2-1 3 1 12
Prewett 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Brown 0-1 0-0 0-3 3 3 0
Peevy 0-1 0-0 0-1 1 1 0
Adkins 0-1 1-2 0-0 0 0 1
Team reb. 0-5 5
Totals 21-50 10-14 14-25 39 14 54
Three-point field goals: Bryant 5-18 (Goshien 4-5, Morris 1-3, Montgomery 0-4, Johnson 0-3, Hughes 0-2, Calley 0-1), Russellville 2-5 (Cooper 2-3, Long 0-2). Turnovers: Bryant 11, Russellville 25.
