By Bill Glass
BPC Public Relations
MOUNT VERNON -- The team that gets off the most shots in basketball is usually the team that wins, but not in the Brewton-Parker College Lady Barons' two games last week.
In an 85-71 loss at home Jan. 22 to Georgia-Alabama-Carolina Conference leader North Georgia College and State University, Brewton-Parker created a lot of opportunities for itself but was unable to translate that into a win because of poor shooting.
All was not lost from the defeat, however, as the Lady Barons actually felt a lift in their confidence heading up to Waleska two days later to play Reinhardt College.
"We knew we were capable of beating North Georgia ranked No. 7 in the nation (NAIA Division I), and we stayed with them despite cold shooting," Brewton-Parker head coach Sheila Simmons said. "All we had to do at Reinhardt was shoot better."
The Lady Barons' confidence turned out to be well founded as they notched a tough, 103-92 double-overtime victory at Reinhardt.
Brewton-Parker's shooting was not as accurate as the host Lady Eagles', but the Lady Barons were busier and that paid off. Brewton-Parker made 37 of 97 field-goal attempts for 38 percent shooting, while Reinhardt made 31 of 67 for 46 percent.
Senior guard Toya Rogers of Vidalia led the Lady Barons (16-4 overall, 3-2 GACC) with a huge double-double by scoring 26 points with 21 rebounds. Sophomore guard Ashley Little of Lawrenceville contributed 19 points and senior guard Melody Walker of Statesboro had 14.
Sophomore forward Tamika Drinks of Mt. Vernon was just shy of a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds.
The game was hard-fought all the way until the second overtime, where the Lady Barons outscored Reinhardt 16-5, but it took two huge plays to get Brewton-Parker into that position.
The first came with the Lady Barons trailing by three with just seconds remaining in regulation. Sophomore guard Tori Williams of Valdosta responded by draining her shot from 3-point range to tie the score at 79-all and put the game into overtime.
Then in the second overtime, with the clock ticking away and the Lady Barons needing a deuce to tie it up, junior forward Crystal McNeil of Pensacola, Fla., grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back at the buzzer to force with the teams deadlocked at 87.
After that it was all Brewton-Parker, although Simmons said in summarizing the game, "It was not our best defensive effort."
Reinhardt (12-9, 2-4) got a game-high 30 points and 12 rebounds from sophomore wing Catherine Mann and 28 more points from junior guard Amanda Clonts, while freshman post Josephine Reed had a double-double of 12 points and 10 boards.
The Lady Barons actually may have played better defensively in their loss to North Georgia two nights before, when Brewton-Parker forced 32 turnovers and had 14 steals.
Little had three of the steals on her way to leading the Lady Barons in scoring with 28 points. Rogers scored 15 points while pilfering two balls.
"We just could not capitalize," Simmons said. "We only made 33 percent of our shots, against a ranked opponent you can't do that."
After closing the gap to four points late in the game, the Lady Barons missed lay-ups and free throws that could have made the difference. Then they had to start fouling to stop the clock, and the Lady Saints, who shot 61 percent from the charity stripe, made their free throws leading to the 85-71 gap at the end.
North Georgia (16-4, 6-0) had five players score in double figures, led by sophomore forward Angelyn Love's 19 points along with 11 rebounds, while sophomore post Jeanine Dorminey had 17 points and 12 boards.
Brewton-Parker has two home GACC games this week at the Student Activities Center, the first coming Thursday at 6 p.m. against Shorter College (10-10, 3-3). The Lady Barons then entertain Southern Polytechnic State University (3-17, 0-5) in a 2 p.m. game Saturday.
-BPC-
