Lady Hornets breeze past Lady Senators in Joe T. tourney opener
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
LITTLE ROCK — All 16 Bryant Lady Hornets played about an equal amount and 13 of them contributed to the scoring as the Bryant Lady Hornets opened the 65th annual Joe T. Robinson Invitational Tournament by overwhelming[more] the host Lady Senators, 59-22, on Wednesday evening.
The Lady Hornets, now 6-0, advance to the 7:30 semifinal game this evening against Arkadelphia which defeated North Pulaski, 46-25, in the late game Wednesday.
Pulaski Robinson did not score in Wednesday’s game until Bryant had piled up an 18-0 lead. It was 25-2 before the Lady Senators managed a field goal.
McKenzie Adams scored a team-high 14 points in only a little more than a quarter of playing time. Sophomore reserves Courtney Davidson (with 8), Logan Davis (6), McKenzie Rice (6) and Lauren Buck (5) accounted for 25 points.
Kiara Moore opened the scoring in the game then Adams followed with three consecutive buckets. London Abernathy hit a jumper from the corner to make it 10-0. A steal and a layup by Adams started the second Bryant 10. Abbi Stearns, who blocked three shots in the first quarter, drove for a layup with 2:00 left to make it 14-0. A pair of late free throws by Adams set the 16-0 margin going into the second period.
Moore made a steal that let to a basket by Breanna Blundell for the first points of the second. Two free throws then broke the ice for Robinson.
By then Bryant head coach Blake Condley had starting filtering in his reserves. A nice feed from Davis led to a short jumper by Whitney Meyer then Davis hit a layup off a Robinson turnover to make it 22-2. Davidson added a 3-pointer before Robinson’s first field goal.
The Lady Hornets’ scoring late in the half included a short jumper by Rice off a nice feed from Brittney Ball. Buck followed a 3-pointer by the Lady Senators with a 3 of her own to extend the margin to 34-8.
It was 37-12 at halftime after Bryant’s Carley Choate contributed a short jumper and a free throw after grabbing an offensive rebound.
The starters returned briefly at the start of the second half. Blundell made a steal and Stearns followed her miss with a stickback. An offensive-rebound basket by Adams and short jumper by the sophomore guard made it 43-12 with 6:00 left in the third quarter. Condley called a timeout to get his reserves back in.
Davidson hit a jumper in the lane then Davis made a steal and layup to extend the margin to 47-12. Robinson’s first basket of the second half came with 3:31 left in the third quarter. A turnaround jumper by Davis and a basket inside by Ball made it 51-14 before the Lady Senators beat the buzzer with a shot to make it
The mercy rule was in effect after that. Rochelle Aguilar’s layup provided the first points of the final period. Later, Rice hit a layup then fed Buck for a bucket and capped the scoring in the final seconds with a 12-foot jumper.
