Jackson, Miss. – The Centenary women's basketball team was edged in a thriller, 102-101, on Sunday afternoon by the Birmingham-Southern College Panthers in the Millsaps College Thanksgiving Classic at the Hangar Dome.
The Ladies (0-8) were led by a career-high 33 points from senior F Amelia Bagwell (West Monroe, La.), which is tied for the third-most in a single game in program history. The Panthers improved to 5-3 win the win. The Ladies fell 67-51 to the host Majors on Saturday in their tournament opener.
Centenary recorded an 89-82 road win over Birmingham-Southern last season in which former Ladies' player Destini Powell interestingly also scored 33 points as Bagwell matched her record which is shared by two others – Penny Brill versus Arkansas Tech on Feb. 16, 1984 and Laura Kizyte on Nov. 19, 2004 against LeTourneau.
Bagwell grabbed 16 rebounds and was 13-23 from the floor in 35 minutes. She added a pair of assists, went 7-10 from the free throw line, and recorded her second-straight double-double. Her 13 field goals made are tied for the second-most in a single game in program history and her 21 attempts are tied for the number eight all-time record.
The 101 points are the most that the Ladies have ever scored in a loss, as the previous program record was 86 against Stephen F. Austin on Dec. 17, 2005. The 203 combined points also broke the previous record of 181 done twice before and most recently in that 95-86 loss to SFA in 2005.
Freshman G Brailey Major (Opelousas, La.) scored a season-high 27 points on 11-21 shooting in 33 minutes, freshman G Amiyah Barrow (Baton Rouge, La.) had 16 points and reached double figures for the third time in her young career, and sophomore G Alana Jones (Shreveport, La.) registered a double-double with 12 points and a career-high 21 rebounds in 37 minutes. Jones' 21 rebounds are the fourth-most in a single game in program history as she matches Anne Farrell's record set on Feb. 19, 2011. Freshman G Olivia Sepulvado (Zwolle, La.) added nine points and the Ladies got two points each from freshman G Madison Davis (Shreveport, La.) and freshman G Lauren Castillo (Keller, Texas).
Centenary shot a season-best 46.5 % (40-86) from the floor for the game and outrebounded the Panthers 56-48. Centenary's 56 rebounds are the Maroon and White's second-most in a single game this season as they grabbed 61 at home versus Hendrix in a 64-63 loss on Nov. 18. Birmingham-Southern shot 40.6 % (39-96) from the field and had two players reach double figures – Brooke Westhoelter with 16 and Laruyn Towns had 15. The Panthers received balanced scoring as seven players scored eight or more points.
The Ladies finished 2-7 from beyond the arc and 19-28 from the free throw line for 67.9 %. Centenary turned the ball over 24 times while Birmingham-Southern gave it away 14 times. The Ladies dished out a season-high 27 assists which is just four shy of the single-game program record of 31 set against Wiley on Nov. 17, 2001. Centenary had seven steals and blocked two shots while the Panthers finished with 20 assists, 13 steals, and two blocked shots. BSC was 11-43 (25.6 %) from 3-point range and 13-31 (41.9 %) from the free throw line.
The Ladies finished with a 60-48 edge in points in the paint and a slight advantage (17-15) in fast break points. BSC scored 22 points off of the Ladies' 24 turnovers and had an astounding 47 bench points to Centenary's 11. The Ladies scored 10 points off of the Panthers' 14 TO's and BSC finished with a 28-20 edge in second-chance points.
Centenary led 22-16 after the first quarter and BSC responded with a 31-29 edge in the second period for a 51-47 halftime lead. The Panthers outscored the Ladies 28-25 in the third quarter and 27-25 in the fourth quarter. The Ladies led 76-75 entering the final period and the teams traded baskets for the first few minutes of the quarter until the Panthers went on a run and eventually took a 90-81 lead at the 5:31 mark. A layup by Montana Harris gave the Panthers a 12-point lead (97-85) with just 3:50 remaining.
The Ladies were still down double-digits (100-88) at the 1:59 mark but staged a furious rally in the final two minutes as they outscored the Panthers 13-2 to nearly pull of the comeback win. A layup by Bagwell with just 35 seconds remaining made it a 100-93 game and a trey by Major cut the deficit to 100-96 with 18 seconds left. After the Panthers missed a pair of free throws, Sepulvado made it 100-98 with a basket. Alex Lewis was fouled and made a pair of clutch free throws for a 102-98 lead with seven tickets left. Major then made a 3-pointer as time expired for the 102-101 final margin. Bagwell scored 15 second-half points while Major scored 21 including 10 in the fourth quarter.
Centenary will face the Wiley College Lady Wildcats on Tuesday evening in a non-conference contest set for 5 p.m. in Marshall, Texas. The game is a rematch of one from Nov 17 at the Gold Dome won by Wiley, 84-75.
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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