Eagles Soar By Golden Tigers
Shooting woes plagued the Brenau basketball team again as the Golden Tigers lost to Faulkner (Ala.) University 74-59 on Monday.
In the first half, Brenau came out aggressive on offense as Jasmine Butler found the mark on five quick points. However, the junior forward was plagued with foul trouble early, which helped slow down her pace. Senior guard Brittney Wiley hit a three pointer to keep the score within three points and senior Anela Durmic scored on a driving layup to cut the score to one.
The Golden Tigers continued their aggressive play, notching 24 foul shots in the first half alone. However, their struggles shooting at the line held them from keeping pace, finding themselves in a 36-25 deficit.
In the second half, the Golden Tiger defense locked down, keeping the Eagles from pulling away. Brenau cut the lead to seven points early in the second half, and prevented Faulkner from scoring on seven straight possessions, but the Golden Tigers offense couldn't find the mark and couldn't close the gap.
With five minutes to go, Brenau found their momentum. After a Quinnesha Turner steal and layup, and a Jasmine Williams blocked shot, the Golden Tigers had a chance to cut the game to single digits again, but missed a driving layup that stifled their comeback.
"We came out and really attacked in the first half, as evidence of the 24 foul shots," said head coach Kris Stewart. "But the missed foul shots carried over and we lost confidence in our shooting. In the second half we really locked down defensively, but when we finally found our offense, we couldn't quite close the gap. My players are fighting so hard, but it just seems like we get a bad bounce, or a near-miss and it starts snowballing. I do believe we will finish strong because we are resilient".
Brittney Wiley led all scorers with 19 points. Butler added 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Christina Hayes and Sonja Vuong both led Faulkner with 14 points.
The Golden Tigers (11-15) pick up again on Thursday at 6 pm versus Emmanuel (Ga.) College.