Wednesday January 20,2021
Bay Minette, AL
It was a slow start for the Lady Bears tonight in Alabama as they opened the 2021 basketball season against the Coastal Alabama South Sun Chiefs. After being down by seventeen points at the half, the Lady Bears rallied to earn the 59 to 56 victory.
Both teams were rusty in the opening minutes of the first quarter. The game was tied at four a piece with 6:32 left to play, in the quarter. The Sun Chiefs would go on an 8 to 4 run to close out the quarter and take a 12 to 8 lead. Coastal would capitalize on the sloppy play and poor shooting from the Lady Bears, in the second quarter, to extend their lead to 17 points ,at the half. The Lady Bears went cold from the field only scoring five points in the quarter, both baskets from freshman guard Angel Bradford.
At the half, Head Coach Paula Lee encouraged and motivated her team to fight and play tougher on the defensive end of the floor. She told the kids to settle down and run through the offense and not take quick shots. The Lady Bears responded with a passion on defense that this program has been lacking for a couple years. They turned up the heat with a full court press that kept the Sun Chiefs out of rhythm the whole second half. To start the third quarter, the Lady Bears used that aggressive defense to force turnovers that lead to easy transition baskets. In the first four minutes of the quarter, the Lady Bears went on an 8-0 run to come within ten points. The run was fueled by a pair of freshman, Alanna Donaldson, and Angel Bradford. They combined for 6 of the 8 points, during the run. Coastal would go on a mini run to end the third quarter and take a 42 to 29 lead heading into the fourth.
The beginning of the fourth quarter was the Demetriona "Lulu" Hookfin show. She scored 9 straight points for the Lady Bears to close the gap to 5 points: 43-38. BRCC continued their full court press which forced Coastal into some quick shots. BRCC would take a 47 to 46 lead with 5:16 to go in the game off a jumper by Angel Bradford. They would extend their lead when sophomore forward Amani Barrow stole the inbound pass and scored on a lay-up, 49 to 46. The game was tied at 54 with 2:52 left to play. Alanna Donaldson would score four straight points to give BRCC a 58 to 56 lead. Coastal had a chance to tie the game at 58 but they missed a wide-open lay-up. Angel Bradford would make 1 of 2 free throws to seal the Lady Bears 59 to 56 victory over the Sun Chiefs.
Coach Lee thoughts on the victory tonight," It was a tale of two halves. In the first half, it showed that we are a very young team with 9 freshmen, and we played like it. But after the challenge at half time the fight in the Lady Bears really showed. I am very proud of everyone because it was a total team effort, but Alanna, Angel and Kirstin took that challenge to heart and led the Lady Bears in the second half."
With the victory the BRCC Lady Bears improve to 1-0 on the season, while the Coastal Alabama South Sun Chiefs fall to 0-1. The Lady Bears avenge last seasons 91-53 loss to Coastal Alabama South, and even the series record at 1-1.
The Lady Bears were led in scoring by a pair of freshman, Alanna Donaldson, and Angel Bradford who each scored 13 points. The Sun Chiefs were led in scoring by Khyli Rankins with 13 points.
The Lady Bears will continue their road swing this Saturday Jan 23 when they travel to Bossier City to take on the BPCC Lady Cavs at 2 pm.
Lady Bears Highlights:
Alanna Donaldson scored 13 points, with 4 assist, 4 rebounds, and 5 steals.
Angel Bradford scored 13 points with 1 rebound, 6 assists, and 4 steals.
Demetriona Hookfin had a double double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.