JACKSON, Miss. -- Sometimes all it takes is a change of scenery to get rid of a slump, and that was what the Lady Scots were hoping for as they traveled well outside of the normal distance to find themselves in Jackson, Mississippi Tuesday night. Taking the distance out of the equation, there are two very hard things to defend: high end skill and a well balanced team. The Lady Scots ran into the second of these Tuesday night as the hosting Lady Majors of Millsaps College were very well rounded as 5 of the 8 players that played scored in double digits.
The first half, although won by Millsaps 47-30, was a much closer affair than the score would indicate. Covenant seemed to be keeping it close, but its defense did not show up until the second half. The team held Millsaps to 33 points in the second half, but the lack of offense in the closing period ultimately doomed the Lady Scots to a 80-52 defeat.
The first 5 minutes of the game featured several baskets made while the defenses were adjusting to the players on the court. The score had gone back and forth but rested at 10 apiece with 14:51 remaining in the first half. That would be the last the Lady Scots would have any lead or share of the lead in the game. With two straight threes by Lady Major Kristin Salmon, Millsaps was off to the races and never looked back from the 6 point lead. The Lady Scots got a basket by sophomore Jessica Chittenden at the 12:22 mark but did not score again until fellow sophomore Ruth Gibson hit a three with 7:53 remaining. This lack of scoring along with the well-balanced offensive attack produced a substantial lead of 16 points for Millsaps. And with such a deficit, it was hard for the Lady Scots to muster any positive momentum going into the second half.
One of the most shocking stat lines of the first half was that of freshman Jessie Blankenship, who attempted 0 shots and therefore had 0 points. Sophomore Kiaira Cooper stepped up big, leading the Lady Scots in both points (10) and shot attempts (7). Junior Margaret Cross had found 8 points hitting 2 threes and 2 free throws. The team as a whole shot 10-24 (41.7%) from the floor in the first half. Though a solid percentage from the floor, the Lady Scots knew the outcome of the game would be dependent on more offense in the second half if they were to rally together for a comeback.
But a comeback was not in the cards for the Lady Scots this time around as the Millsaps lead extended to 31 at its highest point. The trademark Lady Scots defense was better in the second half, but even slowing the scoring for the Lady Majors was not enough to get the road win as the final score reflected in the 80-52 margin of victory.
Highlights for the Lady Scots included a conscious effort to limit turnovers. Covenant has been averaging just over 24 per game but managed to slim that category to 17 on the road against Millsaps. Sophomore Kiaira Cooper led the team in scoring for the first time all year as she scored 17 points on 7-14 shooting from the floor.
The Lady Scots return home for a rematch against Spelman College on Thursday night at 7:00pm.
