LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- After two road losses last week, the Lady Scots finally got a chance to play at home Tuesday evening against Berry College, an institution that, like Covenant, is currently in the transitional stage of the NCAA. Covenant and Berry have not played often in the past seven years. The two teams met once in 2004 with Berry winning by a final score of 77-58. Last season, both teams met up again early in November, but again the Lady Scots fell short, almost finding the same exact result as the final score was 77-56. But this time, under a new head coach, the Lady Scots were looking for a better result this season as the Vikings came to the mountain for the first time in seven years.
With both losses last week in the rearview mirror, the Lady Scots took the floor looking to find a way to play well at home for the first time this young season. Covenant had the first possession and had two attempts to get the first points of the game, but the pesky defense of Berry would not budge early on. In Berry's first possession, Lady Viking Erica Crumley hit a three-pointer, proving that they were ready to play. The Lady Scots had to fight and battle to get the edge back into the lead and did so with a 3-pointer in the corner from junior Hannah Craft, taking the lead back 9-8 in the early going.
Berry responded with a 15-2 run in the following 5 minutes, amassing a 12 point lead with nine and a half minutes remaining in the first half. This is where it was clear that the Lady Scots had learned their lesson from Saturday afternoon's game: the Lady Scots showed resilience and continued to battle back even when the momentum had swung against their favor. As junior Margaret Cross scored a layup with 4:16 on the clock, the Lady Scots had brought it back to within 5 points of Berry, showing that there was more to them than quick starts.
But even with this burst of offensive efficiency, the Lady Scots continued to give up second chance opportunities as they surrendered 11 offensive rebounds in the first half which tied the most given up in a half this season. Berry, being a veteran team, made the most of their chances, scoring easy put-backs to get their lead back up to double digits. With the deficit having hit a plateau at 14 points, junior Margaret Cross was not going to finish until the buzzer sounded. With under 10 seconds left, the Lady Scots inbounded the ball and pushed the it up the court in the mass confusion of last second plays. Cross got past her defender and put up a floater inside 15 feet, scoring the last points of the first half as the buzzer sounded.
The Lady Scots were led in the first half by both junior captains Hannah Craft and Margaret Cross. Craft, with her 2 three-pointers, lead the team with 10 points in 12 minutes, and Cross was 4-5 inside the three-point line, giving her 8 points. Craft, junior Christine Core and sophomore Ruth Gibson were the only Lady Scots to record any assists in the half as the Lady Scots shot 9-29 (31%) in the first half. Gibson lead the team with 4 rebounds, and NCCAA player of the week Jessie Blankenship followed close behind with 3 rebounds of her own.
Taking the court for the second half, the Lady Scots only found a way to trade baskets with Berry, only scoring after Berry had scored. With 15 minutes remaining, the Lady Scots had finally got inside double digits with a made free throw from Jessie Blankenship. As much effort as the Lady Scots were bringing to the table, the score seemed to be stuck between 9 and 12 points in favor of Berry. The closest the score ever came in the second half was 59-68 with 1:12 left. But even with Berry cruising to a 9 point lead that was never fully challenged, the Lady Scots held their heads high knowing that they had played a good team well and had even outscored Berry 36 to 33 in the second half.
For the second game in a row, the Lady Scots had the leading scorer of the night. Margaret Cross finished her night shooting 8-14 from the field, hitting 2 threes and making all 3 of her free throws, giving her a total of 21 points. This is the second game in a row that Cross has scored 20 or more. Last year, Cross averaged 9.1 points a game, and she has almost doubled that in the first three games this season, scoring an average of 18 points a game. Freshman teammate Jessie Blankenship had her second double-double in 3 games as she scored 17 points and ripped down 10 rebounds. Jessie was nominated and won the NCCAA player of the week honors with her superb play last week. Junior Hannah Craft also finished with double digit points as she landed 12 points along with 7 rebounds.
"I was very pleased with how our team responded after our game on Saturday," said head coach Corey Mullins. "I feel like defensively, we were able to cause Berry to play at a pace that they were uncomfortable with and take quick shots. There are certainly some things we need to improve on the offensive end, but I am excited with how our team is competing."
The Lady Scots will be off for Thanksgiving break but will return to playing games on December 1 against LaGrange College in LaGrange, Georgia.
