Bridgewater ,Va.- The Bridgewater women’s basketball team hosted a Saturday evening game against Randolph Macon at 2 p.m., with the Eagles coming into the game 13-6 and Randolph Macon being 15-5.
The game started off with back and forth buckets scored by each team with multiple lead changes in the beginning of the first quarter The first quarter was a low scoring one with great defense played by both teams. The Eagles led by one point, heading into the second quarter 11-10.
The Eagles started to gain momentum to start the second half due to lineup and rotations changes by Coach Flamini. Aylin Humpherys, a 5 ‘6” freshman guard, got the offense going off the bench with some quick points which started a run followed by junior guard Rosemary Pierson and sophomore Jay Garcia, helping the Eagles take a 25-24 lead heading into half time.
Starting off the 3rd quarter, Randolph Macon came out very aggressive, scoring points quickly on their first couple possessions while the Eagles went on a scoring drought where Macon had their largest lead of the game of 7 points. Almost to the midway point of the 3rd quarter, the Eagles could not generate offense despite having a few wide open looks.
“We wanted to be very physical and have a high level of intensity on defense throughout the game because we knew generating points is easy for us,” said Jaden Alsberry.
At the midway point, when it seemed like Macon had the game in their control, the Eagles started to gain momentum with a few quick buckets to bring the game within a single point. A few possessions later, the Eagles took the lead hitting a couple of big shots to close the 3rd quarter and head into the 4th leading by 2 points.
In the 4th quarter, the Eagles started to make shots from the floor, hitting 3 point shots, free throws and second chance buckets which extended the lead to 16 points, and they never looked back from there. The Eagles went on a 30-0 run holding Macon 0 for 12 from the floor, forcing eight turnovers. Macon went on a run during the final minutes of play, but it was too much to overcome.
Pierson led the Eagles with 13 points in the win, going 4-6 on shooting from the floor along with three assists and grabbing a pair of rebounds. The seven made 3 pointers were the most the team made this season in one game. This was huge for the Eagles to find their consistency from 3 because it helped the offense space the floor and create easy driving lanes to the basket.
“If we play this way every game on offense and defense, there is no reason we won’t compete for a championship,” said Garcia. “We just have to be consistent every game.”
