Shreveport– The Centenary women's basketball team dropped a heartbreaker to the Hendrix College Warriors on Friday evening, 64-63, in a non-conference contest at the Gold Dome.
The Ladies (0-5) led 59-54 with 2:22 remaining and 63-62 with just 26 seconds left but the Warriors (1-4) scored the winning basket with seven seconds on the clock to steal the win. Centenary was fresh off another emotional loss on Thursday, 84-75 to the Wiley College Lady Wildcats at home in a game that the Maroon and White rallied from multiple double-digit deficits in the second half to get within two points in the final minutes, but could not take the lead.
Bella Cates scored the winning basket for the Warriors, her only two points of the game, after checking into the game 10 seconds prior to scoring. Megan Gray made one of two free throws to make it a 63-62 game and then stole the ball from Ladies' sophomore G Alana Jones (Shreveport, La.) which led to a timeout by Centenary. Cates then scored and a last-second jumper by freshman G TaNyjah Plumber (Kinder, La.) fell short as the Ladies stood in stunned silence.
Hendrix led 14-11 after one quarter of play, but the Ladies responded with a strong second period, outscoring the Warriors 14-7 to take a 25-21 halftime lead. Hendrix, however, responded well in the third quarter with a 23-16 advantage for a 44-42 lead entering the final 10 minutes. The Ladies finished with a 22-20 advantage in the fourth quarter but came up one point short. The Ladies shot 30.4 % (24-79) overall from the floor for the game, 15.8 % (3-19) from beyond the arc, and went 12-20 (60 %) from the free throw line. Hendrix shot 33.8 % (22-65) overall, 24.1 % (7-29) from 3-point range, and were solid at the free throw line, making 13-16 for 81.3 %.
Sophomore G Dymon Drumgo (Alexandria, La.) scored a team-high 14 points to lead four Ladies in double figures. Madi Pierce led the Warriors with a game-high 21 points and Kennedi Burns joined her in double figures with 12. Jones was just behind Drumgo with 13 points, and freshman G Madison Davis (Shreveport, La.) and senior F Jazzmyn Jones (Normangee, Texas) each scored 11. Freshman G Amiyah Barrow (Baton Rouge, La.) scored eight, freshman G Olivia Sepulvado (Zwolle, La.) added four and senior F Amelia Bagwell (West Monroe, La.) chipped in two.
Alicia McCloria scored nine in 25 minutes for the Warriors, Simone Shields came of the bench to score eight points with a pair of steals in 20 minutes, and Gray and Blysse Harmon each scored six points. Cates played 15 minutes and had three rebounds, an assist, and a steal to go with her game-winner. Pierce recorded a double-double for the Warriors, grabbing a game-high tying 14 rebounds to go with her 21 points and finished 7-20 shooting overall, 3-8 from beyond the arc and 4-6 from the FT line. She added three steals and an assist. Burns tallied five rebounds, four steals, and three assists in her 31 minutes on 4-12 shooting overall and was a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line.
Alana Jones and Jazzmyn Jones each grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds to lead the Ladies and matched Pierce. Drumgo pulled down eight boards, Barrow six, and Plumber and Sepulvado each had four. Bagwell and freshman G Brailey Major (Opelousas, La.) each had three. The Ladies finished with a decisive advantage (61-36) in rebounding, grabbing 32 on the defensive end and 29 offensive boards. The 61 rebounds are just 11 shy of the program record for most in a single game set on Nov. 24, 2003 versus LeTourneau.
The Ladies finished with 11 assists, seven steals, give blocked shots, and turned the ball over 19 times. The Warriors recorded 13 steals, 12 assists, one blocked shot, and finished with 13 turnovers. Centenary finished with a 30-26 edge in points in the paint and had 22 second-chance points to the Warriors' four. Hendrix scored 22 points off turnovers while the Maroon and White had nine off the Warriors' 13 miscues. The Ladies' bench contributed 17 points while the Warriors received 10 bench points.
Two baskets by Barrow in the first minute of the fourth quarter gave the Ladies a 45-44 lead which they would extend to five (51-46) on a jumper by Drumgo at the 5:57 mark. A 3-pointer by the rookie Davis gave the Ladies a 55-48 lead with 4:18 left but a pair of treys by Pierce in an 18-second span made it 55-54. The Jones' – Jazzmyn and Alana, each scored a basket to make it 59-54 Ladies with 2:22 remaining. Gray then tied the game at 59-59 with a 3-pointer at the 1:41 mark.
Shields put the visitors up 61-59 with a layup with 1:07 remaining but Alana Jones tied it 14 seconds later, was fouled, and made the free throw to complete the three-point play and put the Ladies up 62-61. Alana Jones then stole the ball from Harmon with 34 seconds left and was fouled by Burns. She made 1-2 free throws at the line to make it a 63-61 game and Hendrix called a timeout. Gray was fouled on the next possession and made 1-2 at the line to make it 63-62 with 17 seconds left.
The Ladies and Warriors will meet again on Monday, this time on the Warriors' home court in Conway, Ark. in a game set for 6 p.m.
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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