Lady Hornets’ defense causes havoc for Lady Wolves in 64-46 win
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
PEARCY — The Bryant Lady Hornets set a new scoring standard for the season and snapped a three-game skid with a convincing 64-46 victory over the Lake Hamilton Lady Wolves Tuesday night.
Execution on offense and a hustling defense that forced 26 turnovers through just three quarters provided the impetus for the victory that improved the Lady Hornets to 6-4 going into the annual Saline County Shootout against Benton this Friday at the Hornets Nest.
Bryant had taken its lumps through a tournament at Fort Smith that was loaded with top-notch teams from Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri over the weekend so the easy victory on Tuesday was welcome.
Kiara Moore led Bryant with 15 points and sophomore Taneasha Rhode came in off the bench to add 14 to go with a team-high nine rebounds. Nine of the Lady Hornets’ 14 players that got into the game contributed to the scoring. Logan Davis had 9, Dezerea Duckworth and Courtney Davidson 7 apiece.
“I thought our kids played well,” acknowledged Bryant coach Brad Matthews. “I thought we executed well offensively and knocked down some shots. We had spurts where we defended well, still have some room to improve on our defense and rebounding but we are improving in that area.
“Lake Hamilton has a really good program and is a tough place to play, so to get a win on the road is always a good thing,” he added.
The Lady Hornets took control of the game with a 24-point eruption in the second quarter that included 8 of 12 shooting from the field. They hit four of five 3-pointers two each by Moore and senior Callie Hogancamp.
Lake Hamilton was led by post player Melissa Chunn, who had 18 points and 12 rebounds. Kylie Frazier added 9 points.
Chunn scored the game’s first basket but it turned out to be the Lady Wolves’ last lead. The game was tied at 4 when Duckworth hit a free throw and, moments later, drove for a layup off a nice feed from Moore to make it 7-4. Lake Hamilton called a timeout but never led again.
Still, it was 9-8 with 1:13 left in the opening period. The Lady Wolves had a chance to regain the advantage but the Lady Hornets forced a turnover and Duckworth dished to Davis for a layup that not only gave Bryant an 11-8 lead going into the second quarter, it started a tell-tale surge.
A steal and running jumper by Duckworth started the second period as she went coast-to-coast. Moore added a pair of free throws and, after Chunn scored, Davidson scored inside. Chunn and Davidson traded buckets again and when Frazier drove for baseline for a bucket, the Bryant lead was 19-14.
Two free throws by Duckworth and a 3 by Moore produced the first double-digit lead, 24-14, with four minutes left in the half.
Lake Hamilton kept it there until the final minute of the quarter. Two free throws by Marleigh Norris with 1:41 trimmed the Bryant lead to 30-21 but Davis scored off a drive and, after Frazier missed the front end of a one-and-one, Hogancamp drained her second triple of the quarter to make it 35-21 at the half.
The onslaught continued in the third quarter. Frazier got the first basket of the half but, the Lady Hornets started getting the ball inside to Rhode and she responded, starting a 9-0 run with a bucket inside. At the other end, she blocked a shot by Chunn, leading to the trip to the line for Davis. She converted once but Rhode grabbed the rebound on the missed second shot and was fouled. She converted once to make it 39-23.
Lake Hamilton’s Mary Kate Tucker couldn’t get a shot to go down and Davis took advantage with another slash to the rack. Rhode added a free throw after grabbing another offensive rebound. After another turnover, Rhode scored off an inbounds play and it was suddenly a 21-point game, 44-23, with 5:26 left in the third quarter.
The Lady Wolves whittled the margin to 44-27 but another brief surge by the Lady Hornets produced the largest lead of the game. Davidson buried a 3-pointer, Haley Murphy scored off the offensive glass and Moore made it 51-27 with a driving layup.
Bryant led 51-31 going into the fourth quarter and back off the defensive pressure having forced 26 turnovers to that point. The Lady Wolves would only commit one in the final eight minutes.
But the Lady Hornets maintained their advantage. In the late going, Peyton Weaver converted on a pair of free throws and Brittney Ball knocked down a 12-foot jumper to make it 64-42. Chunn would add a pair of free throws and Frazier a basket in the closing moments to set the final score.
LADY HORNETS 64, LADY WOLVES 46
Score by quarters
BRYANT 11 24 16 13 — 64
Lake Hamilton 8 13 10 15 — 46
LADY HORNETS (6-4) 64
Player fg-fga ft-fta reb fls pts
o-d-t
Moore 5-9 3-4 0-1 1 2 15
Davis 4-10 1-2 1-3 4 1 9
Hogancamp 2-5 0-0 0-3 3 1 6
Murphy 1-1 0-2 3-1 4 1 2
Meyer 0-0 0-0 0-1 1 1 0
Duckworth 2-8 3-4 1-3 4 2 7
Rhode 6-15 2-5 6-3 9 4 14
Davidson 3-6 0-0 2-2 4 3 7
Ball 1-1 0-0 0-2 2 2 2
Allen 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 2 0
Weaver 0-0 2-4 0-0 0 0 2
Smith 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Scarlett 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 0
Nichols 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Team 0-0 0
Totals 24-57 11-21 13-19 32 21 64
LADY WOLVES (4-4) 46
Player fg-fga ft-fta reb fls pts
o-d-t
Frazier 3-9 3-5 1-3 4 1 9
Tucker 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 1 2
Norris 0-1 2-2 2-1 3 2 2
Bullard 1-9 3-4 1-3 4 4 5
Chunn 8-10 2-5 3-9 12 2 18
West 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Blend 1-3 0-2 1-2 3 3 2
Tieaskie 1-2 4-6 0-2 2 2 6
Thompson 1-1 0-0 0-1 1 2 2
Team 0-5 5
Totals 16-38 14-24 8-26 34 18 46
Three-point field goals: Bryant 5-12 (Hogancamp 2-4, Moore 2-3, Davidson 1-1, Davis 0-2, Duckworth 0-1, Rhode 0-1), Lake Hamilton 0-1 (Bullard 0-1). Turnovers: Bryant 14, Lake Hamilton 27.
