Lady Barons dodge upset bullet, win 68-65

The Brewton-Parker College Lady Barons overcame a 12-point deficit in the second half of their Georgia-Alabama-Carolina Conference basketball game at Southern Wesleyan University to score a 68-65 victory Monday night in Central, S.C.

The Lady Barons (19-6 overall, 8-3 GACC) trailed Southern Wesleyan (5-19, 3-7) by 12 with 9:30 remaining before freshman guard Ashley Little ignited a Brewton-Parker rally with three unanswered 3-point baskets.

The Lady Barons, who had led 32-30 at halftime, forged back ahead with two minutes remaining and built a three-point lead on Little's two free throws with 20 seconds left.

"Tamika Drinks grabbed an offensive rebound off her missed shot, and that was key," Dalley said of the events leading to Little's free throws.

Following a Southern Wesleyan score to close the margin to 66-65, the Lady Barons missed a game-clinching opportunity when senior forward Tameka Oliver -- the game's leading scorer with 25 points -- missed two free throws with seven seconds left.

Then, a Brewton-Parker foul with three seconds remaining put the Lady Warriors at the line, but the missed first shot set up two free throws by senior guard Takara Solomon to give the Lady Barons their final victory margin.

"We were absolutely dead in the water," Dalley said of the late foul. "We were up by 12 at the start of the game and got in a lull and started pressing. We weren't finishing plays and executing, but finally we kind of relaxed. We knew it was a must-win situation for us."

Oliver was 11-for-20 from the floor and also grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season. Solomon followed with 16 points and Little had 15 with Drinks, a freshman guard from Mount Vernon, adding 10.

Senior forward Amanda Powell had a double-double with 22 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for the Lady Warriors.

The win moved Brewton-Parker to within 1-1/2 games of GACC co-leader Auburn University-Montgomery (17-7, 9-1), which plays host to the Lady Barons on Thursday at 7 p.m. Eastern time in Montgomery, Ala. Brewton-Parker's next home game is Feb. 20 against Reinhardt College.