Bobcats Protect Home Court in Win Over Bay College
After five consecutive road games, the Bryant & Stratton College women's basketball team came back home Wednesday night where they defeated the Bay College Norse 62-56...
WAUWATOSA, WI (January 9, 2019) - After five consecutive road games, the Bryant & Stratton College women's basketball team came back home Wednesday night where they defeated the Bay College Norse 62-56.
The victory improved the Bobcats to 12-8 overall and 6-5 in region play.
Getting off to a strong start, the Bobcats rallied to lead Bay College by 10 (26-16) with five minutes left in the first half after freshman guard, Ashley Moses, drove the lane and converted a tough reverse layup.
"I thought we played with a lot of energy right at the tip," Bobcats head coach, Jeff Lorenz, said. "We pushed the ball in transition and made it very difficult for them to execute offensively."
A back and forth battle over the final minutes of the first half, Bryant & Stratton held their own as they remained ahead by 10 (35-25) at the break.
"You could see that we were excited to be back home and playing in front of our own fans," Lorenz said.
In the first two minutes of the second half, the Bobcats surged out on a 4-0 run leading by 14 (39-25) with all momentum swinging their way.
"Those first couple minutes of the second half are vital," Lorenz said. "We prevented an run early which was all credited to our defense."
Despite the Bobcats solid play, Bay College found a rythem as they put together a 14-3 run to trail by just three points (42-39) to start the fourth quarter.
"Their run came later on," Lorenz said. "They are a solid program and they did many things well on both sides of the ball."
Midway through the final quarter of play, Bryant & Stratton saw themselves trailing for the first time all game 48-47.
Looking to defend home court, freshman guard, Kiyanna Rodgers, came through with five minutes left as she regained the lead for the Bobcats (49-48) after a tough layup through traffic.
Getting back into a flow, the Bobcats extended their lead to three points (51-48) after sophomore forward, Brandilyn Robertson, knocked down a jumper with 4:50 left on the clock.
"We fought through adversity," Lorenz said. "I am extremely proud of how we responded and handled pressure situations."
Over the final minutes of the game, the Bobcats stretched their lead to six points and run away with the win.
Freshman guard, Taynique Hawthorne, led the way for the Bobcats with a team-high 16 points followed by Rodgers with 11 points.
Robertson was just shy of a double-double producing 11 points and nine rebounds.
The Bobcats shot just over 28% from the field which marks as their second lowest shooting percentage of the season.
UP NEXT:
Bryant & Stratton will have four days off before they take on Kennedy-King College at home for a region iv contest. The Bobcats own the past two matches as they defeated Kennedy-King in a forfeit last year and earned an 101-57 victory in the 2016-17 season.
Tip-off will take place at 5:30pm.
Spectators can view the game live on the OFFICIAL YOUTUBE CHANNEL.
