Marshall, Texas – The Centenary women's basketball team dropped a 68-53 decision to the host East Texas Baptist University Tigers on Saturday in its final game of the ETBU Classic at Ornleas Gym.
The Ladies (0-3) fell in overtime on Friday to the LeTourneau University YellowJackets, 67-60, while ETBU (1-1) recorded its first win after falling to Christopher Newport 63-53 on Friday.
The Ladies trailed 28-20 at halftime and 47-31 after three quarters, but did not go away without a fight as they outscored the Tigers 22-21 in the fourth quarter. Centenary shot 29 % (20-69) overall from the field, 63.2 % (12-19) from the free throw line, and struggled mightily from beyond the arc, going just 1-14.
The Tigers also struggled on offense, finishing just 32.1 % (18-56) overall from the floor and 30 % (6-20) from 3-point range. ETBU, however, made up for its issues from the field by sinking 26-31 free throw attempts for an impressive 83.9 %. ETBU finished with a slight advantage (48-42) in rebounding and had two players finish in double figures while the Ladies had one as freshman G Amiyah Barrow (Baton Rouge, La.) led the team with a season-high 11 points.
Three Ladies scored eight or more points as freshman G TaNyjah Plumber (Kinder, La.) started and scored nine and senior F Jazzmyn Jones (Normangee, Texas) and senior F Amelia Bagwell (West Monroe, La.) each scored eight. Freshman F Kyra Stokes (Shreveport, La.) and freshman G Olivia Sepulvado (Zwolle, La.) each chipped in five points. Freshman G Madison Davis (Shreveport, La.) scored three and the Ladies got two points from freshman G Lauren Castillo (Keller, Texas) and freshman G Brailey Major (Opelousas, La.).
Michaela James and Tiffany Bickford each scored 10 points to lead the Tigers, Brooke Webster scored nine, and Mollie Dittmar added eight. Webster and Dittmar each grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and each finished a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line.
Jones pulled down nine rebounds to lead the Ladies and added a game-high six steals while Bagwell finished with six boards. Plumber had five and Barrow was next with four and had two assists and two steals.
The Ladies totaled 10 steals, five assists, and blocked one shot. The Tigers tallied nine assists, seven steals, and five blocks. The Ladies turned the ball over 12 times while the Tigers gave it away 15 times. ETBU received 35 points from its bench while Centenary got 23. The Tigers finished with a slight advantage (20-16) in points in the paint, scored 19 points off turnovers compared to 13 for the Ladies, had a 7-0 advantage in fast break points, and had 11 second-chance points while the Ladies had nine.
The Tigers jumped out to an 8-0 lead but the Ladies clawed back and cut the deficit to 12-8 at the 2:00 mark of the first quarter before a 5-2 run the rest of the way gave ETBU a 17-10 lead after one. The second quarter was competitive as the Tigers edged the Ladies by a point, 11-10 to lead by eight at the break. but a solid third period and a strong start to the fourth quarter allowed the Tigers to seal the win. Centenary, though, fought until the end as the Maroon and White were down 61-37 with only 4:01 remaining and facing its largest deficit of the game but outscored the Tigers 16-7 in the final four minutes to close the gap.
Centenary will face the University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM) Warhawks on Tuesday in an exhibition contest in Monroe in its next action. The game is set for 11:30 a.m. at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
See the Ladies' complete season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/wbkb/2022-23/schedule
Admission is FREE to all Centenary home athletic contests. Live stats and live video stream are available for all Centenary home contests.
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