Lady Hornets ride defense, rebounding past Lady Mavs
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).
For more photos of this event by Kevin Nagle, go here; photos also courtesy of Paul Dotson
Though it seemed like a lock much of the season, the Bryant Lady Hornets were able to indulge in a little sigh of relief on Tuesday night when, with a 47-19 win over the Fort Smith Southside Lady Mavericks, they officially clinched a spot in the Class 6A State Tournament.
The Lady Hornets will now play for seeding with a crucial game in that regard on Friday at Cabot. Bryant and the Lady Panthers are tied for fourth place in the 6A-Central Conference. The Lady Hornets prevailed over Cabot at home 53-48 on Jan. 18.
Against Southside, still winless on the season, the Lady Hornets may have only converted 28 percent of their field goal attempts, but they produced a whopping 57 shots by forcing 29 turnovers and claiming 27 offensive rebounds, led by Allison Steen with nine of her 12 under the Bryant basket.
Southside, meanwhile, managed just three field goals in the game. The Lady Mavericks were 1 for 17 from the field in the second half when they were limited to just 6 points.
The Lady Hornets, now 14-8 overall, rushed to a 20-5 lead by the end of the first quarter when they hit 8 of 13 shots from the floor including a 3 by McKenzie Muse. Tierra Trotter scored 9 of her 11 points in that opening period.
It was an 11-0 start with Robyn Gordon breaking the ice on the game with a pair of free throws in the first minute. Trotter knocked down an 18-footer then India Atkins scored on a layup off a turnover. Muse hit her 3 the Trotter made a steal and layup.
Southside called a timeout and, when play resumed, got on the board on a layup by Melanie Rice. Erin Graham added two free throws and Rice hit another to cut the margin to 13-5.
But the Lady Hornets finished the quarter with a three-point play by Trotter. Later, she followed her own miss and, on an inbounds play, Steen fed Kalia Walker for the first 2 of her 10 in the game.
Bryant then opened the second quarter with a 8-0 surge, which included free throws from Ivory Russ, another 3 for Muse, a jumper by Walker and a free throw by Celena Martin after she’d made a steal.
It was thus 28-5 with 4:19 still to play in the half.
Southside ended the drought at the 4:04 mark when Taylor Grist scored inside. That was their last field goal until early in the fourth quarter.
Bryant led 30-13 at the half. It was 40-13 before the Lady Mavs hit a free throw with 3:19 left in the third quarter. During that 10-0 run, Gordon had a three-point play, Atkins a layup and Martin with a basket inside off a feed from Gordon. Russ fed Muse for a basket and the Lady Hornets led 42-15 going into the fourth quarter.
So, when Walker hit a 3 in the first minute of the final period, the mercy rule went into effect and Bryant coach Brad Matthews started working in his reserves.
Jada Deaton’s free throws closed out Bryant’s scoring in the game.
LADY HORNETS 47, LADY MAVERICKS 19
Score by quarters
FS Southside 5 8 2 4 — 19
BRYANT 20 10 12 5 — 47
LADY MAVERICKS (0-11, 0-21) 19
Harris 0-1 2-2 2, M.Rice 2-5 1-4 5, Phonkhoumphon 0-1 0-0 0, Grist 1-5 0-0 2, E.Graham 0-7 9-12 9, Laranjo 0-2 1-2 1, R.Graham 0-2 0-2 0, Reed 0-0 0-0 0, A.Rice 0-2 0-0 0. Totals:3-25 (12%) 13-22 (59%) 19.
LADY HORNETS (5-6, 14-8) 47
T.Trotter 5-11 1-1 11, Atkins 2-8 0-0 4, Martin 1-9 2-4 4, Gordon 1-2 3-3 5, Muse 3-5 2-2 9, Steen 0-3 0-0 0, Walker 4-10 0-0 10, Russ 0-3 2-6 2, L.Taylor 0-5 0-2 0, Deaton 0-0 2-2 2, S.Trotter 0-0 0-0 0, Scifres 0-1 0-0 0, Ellis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals:16-57 (28%) 12-20 (60%) 47.
Three-point field goals: Bryant 3-20 (Walker 2-4, Muse 1-3, L.Taylor 0-5, Atkins 0-3, Martin 0-3, T.Trotter 0-2), FS Southside 0-2 (Laranjo 0-1, R.Graham 0-1). Turnovers:Bryant 14, FS Southside 29. Rebounds:Bryant 27-12 39 (Steen 9-3 12, Russ 5-2 7, Martin 4-1 5, Gordon 3-2 5, Muse 2-1 3, T.Trotter 1-1 2, L.Taylor 1-1 2, Atkins 1-0 1), FS Southside 12-21 33 (E.Graham 3-4 7, M.Rice 0-5 5, R.Graham 3-1 4, A.Rice 1-2 3, Phonkhoumphon 1-1 2, Grist 1-1 2, Laranjo 1-1 2, Harris 0-1 1, Reed 0-1 1, team 2-4 6). Team fouls:Bryant 16, FS Southside 15. Technical foul:FS Southside, Coach Brown.
