Photos by Kevin Nagle
RUSSELLVILLE — If someone had told Bryant Lady Hornets head coach Brad Matthews that, on the road against a taller team, his squad would finish with a 30-21 rebound advantage and would shoot 15 more free throws than those Russellville Lady Cyclones, he probably would’ve liked his chances.
Maddie Baxter (12) launches a 3 in front of Russellville’s Kenzie Wiedower. (PHoto by Kevin Nagle)
Unfortunately, the Lady Hornets struggled to score from the field. And, though they converted 11 of 18 free throws, they probably should’ve had even more opportunities there, which would’ve helped the cause.
As it was, the Lady Hornets shot 8 of 34 from the field (24 percent) and, after cutting a 19-point deficit to 13 in the second half, went without a field goal the final six minutes as Russellville pulled away for a 48-29 win.
“I thought tonight we got some good looks,” Matthews said, comparing it to the 29-point performance on Monday against Harding Academy in Cabot when the Lady Hornets struggled to even get open shots. “We couldn’t really string baskets together. We’ve got to do a better job of attacking and finishing when we attack. When you do that, it kind of takes some of (the opponents’) aggressiveness away, takes some of their physicality away.
“We competed,” he asserted. “Russellville’s a good team. They made some shots. Some of that was due to defensive breakdowns. We didn’t play to the scouting report.”
That scouting report included putting as much of a blanket on Russellville’s sophomore point guard Alyssa Owens as they could. But Owens scored 11 of her 17 points in the first half, wound up hitting a trio of 3-pointers and scoring 17 points before fouling out in the final minutes of the game. Forward Addy Hipps added 14 points. Post Shameka Ealy, another sophomore, was held to 7 points but had eight rebounds and a handful of blocked shots.
Bryant’s Erica Smith’s defense played a large role in keeping Ealy from getting more points. Smith wound up with 4 points and 10 rebounds herself.
Aubree Allen led Bryant with 7 points. Maddie Baxter had 6, Shakeria Otey 5, Jayla Anderson 4 and Peyton Weaver 3 for the Lady Hornets.
Jayla Anderson has her forearm hit as she tries to get a shot away. (Photo by Kevin Nagle)
“We let (Owens) get some good looks,” Matthews acknowledged. “We knew coming in she was a really good player. When you let really good players have good clean looks — we can’t let that happen. Hopefully, we’ll learn from that.”
Asked if the fact that his team was playing its third game in four days and its first in a really hostile environment, Matthews discounted any excuses, saying, “We just need to make shots.”
The Lady Hornets actually grabbed a 4-0 lead on a basket by Allen off a nice feed from Weaver then a driving jumper by Anderson.
But Russellville followed with an 11-1 run. Allen interrupted with a free throw and later Otey converted two. It was 11-7 going into the second period.
Ealy canned a baseline jumper and, after Allen and Owens traded free throws, Weaver busted a 3 off an assist from Baxter, trimming the margin to 14-11.
But Owens answered with a 3 and, off a Bryant turnover, Jocelyn Brown corded a long jumper with a foot on the 3-point line. Triples by Shelby Gray and Owens on either side of a driving jumper by Otey made it 25-14 at the half.
The Lady Cyclones then scored the first 8 points of the third quarter including treys from Ealy and Owens as the lead swelled to 19. Baxter broke the skein with a 3 but Kenzie Wiedower answered.
Down 35-17 with five minutes left in the third quarter, the Lady Hornetsput together a little run of their own as Smith hit the offensive glass for a hoop then knocked down an 8-footer. Anderson added a free throw in the final minute and it was 35-22 going into the final period.
Jakeria Otey (10) has her shot blocked by Russellville’s Shaneka Ealy. (Photo by Kevin Nagle)
Hipps hit a jumper but Otey converted a free throw as Owens picked up her fourth foul and, after Ealy misfired, Baxter drove in the paint and got a shot to go, pulling the Lady Hornets within 37-25 with 6:26 left.
All Bryant could muster after that, however, was free throws by Allen, Anderson and Baxter as Russellville pushed out to as much as a 21-point lead in the final stages of the game.
The Lady Hornets are now 3-3 going into Christmas break. They return to action at the annual Spa City Classic at the Summit Arena in Hot Springs Friday, Dec. 27, at 1 p.m., against Hot Springs.
The Bryant junior varsity team won, 29-28, prior to the varsity contest. Baxter finished with 10 points, Rachel Miller 9, Anna Turpin 4 with Taylor Hill and Annie Patton pitching in with 2 apiece.
LADY CYCLONES 48, LADY HORNETS 29
Score by quarters
BRYANT 7 7 8 7 — 29
Russellville 11 14 10 13 — 48
LADY HORNETS 29
Player fg-fga ft-fta reb fls pts
o-d-t
Otey 1-10 3-4 2-3 5 0 5
Anderson 1-4 2-4 0-1 1 3 4
Weaver 1-4 0-0 1-2 3 0 3
Allen 1-4 5-8 1-2 3 1 7
Smith 2-5 0-0 1-9 10 0 4
Baxter 2-5 1-2 1-2 3 4 6
Miller 0-2 0-0 1-1 2 0 0
Team 3-0 3
Totals 8-34 11-18 10-20 30 8 29
LADY CYCLONES 48
Player fg-fga ft-fta reb fls pts
o-d-t
Owens 6-12 2-3 0-4 4 5 17
Brown 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 2
Ealy 3-12 0-0 0-8 8 1 7
Hipps 7-12 0-0 4-2 6 5 15
Wiedower 2-7 0-0 0-0 0 2 4
Gray 1-2 0-0 0-2 2 0 3
Phillips 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Franklin 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Team 0-1 1
Totals 20-47 2-3 4-17 21 14 48
Three-point field goals: Bryant 2-6 (Weaver 1-4, Baxter 1-2), Russellville 6-15 (Owens 3-6, Hipps 1-3, Ealy 1-2, Gray 1-1, Wiedower 0-2, Phillips 0-1). Turnovers: Bryant 18, Russellville 11.
Rachel Miller shoots in a crowd. (Photo by Kevin Nagle)
