Ladies Battle Hard Before Falling To Southwestern, 54-42

Shreveport - The Centenary women's basketball team battled the Southwestern University Pirates before falling 54-42 in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contest on Sunday afternoon inside the Gold Dome.

The Ladies (1-13, 0-6 SCAC) trailed 20-14 at halftime and cut a 15-point deficit after three quarters to single digits in the final minutes of the game before falling short to the Pirates (4-12, 3-4 SCAC). The Ladies have lost nine games in a row and are 0-6 at home this season.

Centenary lost to Texas Lutheran University on Friday night by a misleading score of 80-56 as the Ladies were trailing by just six points entering the final quarter but were outscored 26-8 in the final 10 minutes. Centenary was down 37-28 at halftime on Friday and just 20-16 after the first quarter. The Ladies displayed similar grit in their New Year's Eve loss to Colorado College at home, trailing just 33-27 at halftime before falling 72-46.

The 54 points scored by the Pirates are the fewest that the Ladies have allowed in game this season, five less than the 59 they gave up against LeTourneau on Nov. 15 in a 59-53 loss. Centenary has held six opponents to 70 points or less this season. Sophomore F Layla Powell (Fort Worth, Texas) scored a season-high 14 points to pace the Ladies as she reached double figures for the fourth time this season. Sophomore G TaNyjah Plumber (Kinder, La.) joined her in double figures with 12 points as she has scored in double figures seven times this season and done so in four-straight games.

The Pirates were led by 16 points each from Trinity Benitez and Aniyah Burke. Lauren Stevens scored nine off the bench and three players – Ellie ward, Emily Jasek, and Taylor Boddie, combined to score 13 points. Six Pirates played but did not score.

Sophomore F Kyra Stokes (Shreveport, La.) scored five points and grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds before fouling out, sophomore G Amiyah Barrow (Baton Rouge, La.) matched Stokes with 10 boards, also a season-best for her, and scored four points, freshman G Mallory Dougharty (Evadale, Texas) scored four points, and sophomore G Madison Davis (Shreveport, La.) added three points. Freshman G Kira Latson (Pearland, Texas) played nine minutes but did not score.

The Ladies finished 15-59 from the floor for 25.4 %, 1-14 from beyond the arc for 7.1 %, and went 11-18 from the free throw line for 61.1 %. The Pirates were 19-52 overall for 36.5 %, 11-14 from the FT line for 78.6 % and just 5-16 from beyond the arc for 31.3 %. Southwestern won the rebounding battle, 46-35, but the Ladies outscored the Pirates in the paint, 26-24. Each team scored five second-chance points, the Ladies had eight fast break points to the Pirates' two, Southwestern edged Centenary 9-4 in bench points, and the visitors scored 10 points off of the Ladies' 15 turnovers while the Maroon and White scored 15 off of 23 Southwestern miscues. The Ladies finished with six steals, four assists and three blocked shots while the Pirates had four steals, 11 assists, and blocked two shots.

The first quarter did not feature much offense as each team mustered just nine points and an 11-5 edge in the second period gave the Pirates a 20-14 lead at the half. A 17-8 advantage in the third quarter gave the Pirates a 37-22 lead after three quarters, but the Ladies outscored the Pirates 20-17 in the final period, getting as close as 48-40 following a layup by Plumber at the 1:59 mark.

The Ladies are on the road next weekend for a pair of conference contests – Friday, Jan. 12 at Schreiner University (7:30 p.m.) in Kerrville, Texas and on Saturday, Jan. 13 at Trinity University in San Antonio in a game set for 6 p.m.

See the complete Ladies' season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/wbkb/2023-24/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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