When Lady Hornets attack: Bryant wins at Central
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).
LITTLE ROCK — Attack the basket.
That’s what Bryant Lady Hornets head coach Blake Condley wanted his team to do when they took on the Little Rock Central Lady Tigers on Friday, Jan. 30.
After all the
Lady Tigers were a little thin and they showed a penchant for aggressively going after anyone that tried to get to the rack.
The Lady Hornets obliged their coach and several of them have the bruises and floor burns to prove it. But the strategy worked. Two Central starters fouled out and the other three finished the game with four translating into a game in which the Lady Hornets shot 34 free throws and, phenomenally, hit 30 at Central’s gym.
They needed just about every one of them too as they escaped with a 73-67 win.The win planted the Lady Hornets firmly in second place in the 7A-Central Conference at 6-1 to go with a sterling 15-3 overall mark, a game behind North Little Rock, which supplied Bryant’s lone league loss, and one ahead of Cabot going into the second half of the league’s home-and-home schedule.
Actually, the most significant thing about the win over the Lady Tigers may have been the fact that they were coming off that loss to North Little Rock. It snapped an eight-game winning streak. If there was any concern about the way the Lady Hornets would respond to the bump in the road, that’s been dispelled.They hit the Lady Tigers, who had earlier lost to North Little Rock by 1 on a last-second shot, with 5 quick points on a driving layup by Alana Morris, a steal by Taylor Hughes and a 3-pointer by Hannah Goshien.
Morris would lead the Lady Hornets with 22 points including 15 of 18 free throws. She also hauled down 16 rebounds. Goshien added 16 points and, for the fourth time in five games (the lone exception was the North Little Rock game), knocked down four 3-pointers. Haley Montgomery came off the bench to added 13 points including 7 of 8 at the line. Anna Simpson had 12.
For Central, Dee Dee Airline scored 16, Shawnsee Arnold 15, Lesley Craft 13 and Adre Ann Walker 12. [more]
The Lady Tigers forced 25 Bryant turnovers and had 19 offensive rebounds to create 69 shots from the field to go with their 22 free throw attempts but they shot just 36 percent (25 of 69) from the field.
Walker scored and Arnold hit a 3 to tie the game at 5 but, after Goshien drilled her second 3, the Lady Hornets had the upper hand until Central tied it again in the fourth quarter.
In fact, the Lady Tigers’ only lead came with 1:08 left in the game when a 3 by Arnold, a stickback by Walker and a driving layup by Arnold erased a 66-60 Bryant lead. Central led 67-66 going into the final minute but never scored again. Though the Lady Tigers committed just 11 turnovers in the game, two of them came at crucial moments in that final minute.
Morris was fouled with :59 to go and connected twice at the line to put Bryant back up by 1. Moments later, an errant Central pass flew out of bounds. Montgomery added a free throw with :32.7 showing. A traveling violation cost the Lady Tigers and, with :21.2 to go, Morris made it a two-possession game with two more from the stripe. Crafte couldn’t get a 3-point try to go and Montgomery sealed the win at the line with :12 on the clock.
Bryant had led 17-11 after a quarter. Free throws by Simpson and Kenzee Calley to start the second quarter produced the first double-digit lead, 21-11.
The teams traded baskets and Bryant still led 28-18 going into the final four minutes of the half. With baskets by Arnold and Airline, the Lady Tigers trimmed the lead to 4 but Hughes got behind the press for a layup and so did Simpson to keep the Lady Hornets ahead.Bryant had a 33-28 advantage at the break.
Midway through the third, the Lady Hornets built their largest lead of 11. Central had pulled within 38-34 when Simpson drove for a layup and, following a miss by Craft, wove her way through traffic again for a hard-earned layup. Central committed a turnover and Goshien, taking a kickout pass from the driving Simpson, buried a 3 to make it 45-34.
The Lady Tigers answered with a 9-3 run to end the quarter, pulling within 48-43 then opened the fourth with a 7-2 spree. When Breanna Barnes scored with 6:26 left in the game, it was tied 50-50.It was 52-all when Calley scored inside. Hughes and Morris pitched in a pair of free throws each and Bryant was suddenly up 6 again.
Central cut it to 62-60 before Montgomery drained a 3 while being knocked to the floor without a foul call. Arnold missed a chance to cut into t
he lead from the line but missed the front end. Morris was fouled on the rebound and converted a free throw with 2:17 to go to make it 66-60.Arnold answered with a 3 to start the final Central surge to take its short-lived lead.
The Lady Tigers dropped to 9-9 overall. They’re one of four teams tied for fourth at 2-4 in the league going into the second half.Bryant’s next opponent was set to be Mount St. Mary’s on Tuesday, Feb. 3, when the Lady Tigers host Van Buren. Both Mount and Van Buren are among those teams knotted at 2-4.
LADY HORNETS 73, LADY TIGERS 67
Score by quarters
BRYANT 17 16 15 25 — 73
LR Central 11 17 15 24 — 67
LADY HORNETS (15-3, 6-1) 73
Player fg-fga ft-fta reb fls pts
o-d-t
Hughes 1-2 2-2 0-2 2 1 4
Goshien 6-9 0-0 1-3 4 5 16
Simpson 5-6 2-2 3-5 8 2 12
Morris 3-11 15-18 1-15 16 2 22
Calley 1-2 4-4 0-2 2 1 6
Montgomery 2-5 7-8 0-2 2 4 13
Johnson 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Stearns 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Team reb. 0-0 0
Totals 18-36 30-34 5-29 34 15 73
LADY TIGERS (9-9, 2-4) 67
Player fg-fga ft-ft reb fls pts
o-d-t
Craft 2-15 9-12 1-0 1 4 13
Barnes 2-12 0-2 1-4 5 5 4
Airline 8-11 0-0 4-4 8 5 16
Arnold 5-14 3-5 0-1 1 4 15
Walker 5-10 2-2 6-0 6 4 12
Petterson 0-2 0-0 2-0 2 0 0
Wesley 1-2 1-1 1-1 2 0 3
Flood 2-3 0-0 2-1 3 3 4
Team reb. 2-2 4
Totals 25-69 15-22 19-13 32 25 67
Three-point field goals: Bryant 7-13 (Goshien 4-6, Montgomery 2-3, Morris 1-3, Hughes 0-1), Little Rock Central 2-14 (Arnold 2-5, Craft 0-6, Barnes 0-3). Turnovers: Bryant 25, Little Rock Central 11.
