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Box Score 2 NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Trevecca women's basketball team (4-9, 0-1 TranSouth) dropped its TranSouth Conference opener Thursday night, falling 60-58 to Mid-Continent (6-8, 1-0) at the Trojan Fieldhouse. The win is the first in 11 tries for the Cougars in the series.
"I can't fault our effort tonight," said Head Coach Gary Van Atta. "But we can't continue to turn it over that much, and we missed a lot of easy shots inside, which really hurts in such a close game."
Both teams struggled early, with neither team scoring for nearly three minutes before
Anna Mitchell scored Trevecca's first points off an assist from
Rachel Bollinger 2:57 into the contest. The Trojans jumped out to an 8-3 lead, but the Cougars scored six straight points to take a 9-8 lead with 11:30 to play in the half. Back-to-back buckets by Mitchell and
Kayla Biles put the Trojans back in front, but Mid-Continent answered with a 15-5 run, capped off by a Stephanie Malone bucket to make it 24-17 Cougars with 5:10 left in the half. The Trojans once again were up to the challenge, finishing the half with an 11-3 burst, which Biles finished off with a steal and a layup to send the Trevecca to the locker room with a 28-27 lead.
"We didn't shoot the ball very well tonight," added Coach Van Atta. "We got a lot of good looks, but we seemed to rush at times or just missed them, and in a tight game like this one, those things will come back to hurt you in the end."
The lead changed hands several times early in the second half, before Trevecca scored seven unanswered points to turn a 35-34 deficit into a 41-35 lead with 15:29 left. A bucket by Malone and a three-pointer by Shanice Martin made it 41-40, and from there the lead changed hands five more times before the Cougars took the lead for good on a basket by Breaona Houston that made it 51-50 with 7:52 to play. A Martin three-pointer made it 54-50, but Bollinger answered with a three of her own to cut it to 54-53. The Trojans continued to battle, and still had a chance late when the Cougars twice missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw opportunity. But
Haley Felker's runner in the lane just before the buzzer missed, and Mid-Continent had its first-ever win over Trevecca.
Bollinger led the Trojans with 14 points, Raby added 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Mitchell added 12. Asia Grigsby led the Cougars with a game-high 17, while Malone added 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Trevecca shot 36% (20-56) from the field, 16% (3-19) from three-point range, and 88% (15-17) from the line. Mid-Continent shot 48% (25-52) from the floor, 46% (6-13) from beyond the arc, and 50% (4-8) from the charity stripe.
"The girls are giving us a great effort, but I expect perfection regardless of the circumstances," added Coach Van Atta. "We've had some things not go our way this year, but that's part of the game and we're not going to use that as an excuse. We have to come right back and try to get a win Saturday at Blue Mountain."
The Trojans play at Blue Mountain College (3-9, 0-1) Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. The Toppers dropped their TranSouth opener 85-40 at No. 3 Freed-Hardeman Thursday night.
