Kerrville, Texas – The Centenary women's basketball team hung tough with the Schreiner University Mountaineers on Friday night in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference before falling 75-64 at Stephens Family Arena.
The Ladies (3-16, 1-10 SCAC) and Mountaineers (10-10, 7-4 SCAC) were meeting for the second time in six days after Schreiner recorded a 78-68 win over the Ladies on Sunday at the Gold Dome. Centenary, despite losing its 10th-straight game on Friday, gave the Mountaineers a stiff test for the second time this week. Centenary, which led at the half on Sunday 33-32, led again at halftime on Friday by an even wide margin of 38-31. Schreiner, though, outscored the Maroon and White 25-11 in the third quarter and 19-15 in the final period to secure the win.
Junior G Destini Powell (Minden, La.) led the Ladies with 18 points and was one of three Centenary players to finish in double figures as sophomore guard Addy Tremie (Sulphur, La.) scored 12 and junior F Amelia Bagwell (West Monroe, La.) added 10. Freshman G Alana Jones (Shreveport) grabbed a team-high and season-best 10 rebounds and scored eight points, nearly missing her first career double-double.
Powell played 29 minutes and grabbed nine rebounds as she also just missed a double-double. She 8-14 overall from the floor and 2-3 at the free throw line with four assists, a blocked shot, and a steal. Powell, the Ladies' leading scorer on the season, has now reached double figures an impressive 13 times this season and has done so in 12 of her last 14 games. Tremie grabbed eight rebounds to go with her 12 points and was the third Centenary player on the night to nearly record a double-double. She played 34 minutes and was 4-11 overall, 2-2 at the free throw line, and connected on 2-6 attempts from beyond the arc. She also blocked a season-high three shots and reached double figures for the 10th time this season.
Bagwell came off the bench and played 23 minutes, grabbing eight rebounds and blocked a game-high four shots. She was 4-15 overall from the floor and 2-3 at the free throw line. Bagwell scored in double figures for the third time this season and second time in conference play. Jones added an assist and a steal in 30 minutes as she shot 3-7 overall and finished a perfect 2-2 at the free throw line.
Junior F Jazzmyn Jones (Normangee, Texas) scored seven points and grabbed five rebounds in 16 minutes of action. She was 3-8 shooting overall and 1-3 at the free throw line with an assist. Freshman G Dymon Drumgo (Alexandria, La.) added six points with three rebounds, an assist, and a blocked shot in 13 minutes as she was 3-5 overall from the floor. Senior G Jennae Mayberry (Clovis, Calif.) played 33 minutes and scored three points and added a pair of assists and two steals. Freshman G Mary Leday (Opelousas, La.) was held scoreless in 21 minutes but she grabbed five rebounds and had three assists, a steal, and blocked a shot.
Centenary shot 36.2 % (25-69) from the floor for the game, was 12-17 (70.6 %) from the free throw line, and outrebounded Schreiner 55-50. The Ladies struggled from three-point range, connecting on just 2-11 attempts and turned the ball over 19 times. Schreiner struggled offensively, finishing just 32.9 % overall (28-85) and the Mountaineers were also cold from long range, going 4-21 for 19 %. Schreiner, like Centenary, was solid at the free throw line, making 15-20 for 75 %. The Mountaineers took care of the ball, commiting only seven turnovers and recorded 17 asssist, 10 steals, and blocked three shots. The Ladies finished with 12 assists, five steals, and a season-high 10 blocks.
Three Schreiner players scored in double figures, led by a game-high 26 points from Demauria Miles. Elisa Peralta scored 15 and Josline Hernandez added 12. Gabby Ivarra grabbed a team-best 12 rebounds and scored eight points. Andrea Salazar and Nariyah Buggs each scored seven points.
Centenary, despite losing 10 of its first 11 conference games, has lost seven of its SCAC contests by 14 points or less and four by 12 points or less. The Ladies in total this season have 12 losses by 15 points or less displaying the grit and toughness that they have played with all season. Centenary has held six of its conference opponents under 70 points and eight to 75 or less. The Ladies entered Friday's play ranked fourth in the conference in field-goal percentage defense, fifth in 3-point FG % defense, and seventh in scoring defense.
The Ladies and Mountaineers traded baskets in a back and forth first quarter which ended with Centenary holding a slight edge (19-18) after a jumper by Powell with 10 seconds remaining gave the Maroon and White the lead. Centenary began the second quarter on a 6-0 run as a basket by Tremie gave the Ladies a 25-18 lead at the 7:04 mark and Schreiner would go scoreless for the first three minutes and change before a basket by Miles made it 25-20 with 6:45 remaining in the period.
Miles hit a 3-pointer with 3:35 left to tie the gane at 27-27 but the Ladies went on to score the next nine points, capped by a Tremie trey with just 52 seconds left before the half for a 36-29 advantage. Centenary's stingy defense held Schreiner to just four points over the final three and a half minutes of the half. A layup by Bagwell gave Centenary its largest lead of the game (40-31) with 8:25 left in the third, but a 25-9 run over the final eight minutes of the quarter gave the Mountaineers a 56-49 lead headed into the fourth quarter.
The Ladies cut their deficit to two points early in the fourth but Schreiner was able to build a double-digit lead and maintain it throughout the quarter except for a handful of instances when Centenary was able to get within 7-8 points. Schreiner went 5-6 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter to help ice the game while Centenary did not attempt a free throw in the final period. Schreiner finished 2-2 at the line in the third period to finish 7-8 in the second half.
The Ladies will complete the weekend with another conference contest at Trinity in San Antonio on Saturday, Feb. 5 at 4 p.m.
A link to the Ladies' complete 2021-22 schedule can be found here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/wbkb/2021-22/schedule
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