Lady Hornets earn fifth win in last six games by whipping Watson Chapel
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Photos by Rick Nation and Kevin Nagle
Maddie Baxter finished with 11 points Tuesday night. (Photo by Kevin Nagle)
Senior guard Maddie Baxter scored a season-high 11 points while Lauren Carroll and Raija Todd combined for 25 as the Bryant Lady Hornets won for the fifth time in the last six games on Tuesday night.
The Lady Hornets, now 5-4, prevailed over the Watson Chapel Lady Wildcats, 51-34, in their first home game since Nov. 13. It was their third consecutive win going into the Christmas break. Their lone loss during their six-game surge was a 58-57 heartbreaker to highly-regarded Little Rock Hall, which when on to win the Wampus Cat Invitational.
“Since Thanksgiving, we have played seven games in 13 days, going 5-2,” noted Bryant coach Brad Matthews. “I see progress being made. We still have a lot of growth and corrections to be made. But it was a good win and a good way to go into the Christmas break.”
The Lady Hornets will return to action on Dec. 27 at 4 p.m., against the Searcy Lady Lions in the first round of the Beebe First Security Bank/State Representative Jeremy Gilliam Holiday Tournament at Beebe High School. Bryant edged Searcy 54-51 on Dec. 13 at the Conway Tournament.
Carroll led the Lady Hornets with 14 points against Watson Chapel. Todd had 11, Jakeria Otey 7, Rachel Miller 4 with Kendal Rogers and Emily Ridgell finishing with 2 apiece.
“Rachel Miller had seven rebounds and defended (Watson Chapel’s) post player very well in the second half,” noted Matthews.
Bryant opened the game with a 19-point first quarter. The 19-12 advantage grew to 26-14 as the Lady Hornets held the Lady Cats to just 2 points in the second period.
Kendal Rogers (Photo by Kevin Nagle)
“We got off to a very good start offensively,” Matthews acknowledged. “Watson Chapel did a good job of changing from man to zone and it kept us off balance in the second and third quarter.”
The Lady Wildcats trimmed the margin to 34-25 at the end of the third period but the Lady Hornets put the game away with a 17-point fourth quarter.
“I thought, for the most part, our defense was good throughout the game,” Matthews said. “We’re still having some breakdowns that we need to go back and correct but this team has a chance to continue to improve as the season goes along.”
Emily Ridgell (Photo by Rick Nation)
Raija Todd (13) and Maddie Baxter (12) guard an inbounds play. (Photo by Rick Nation)
