Team Effort Gives Lady Pioneers the Win

PARAGOULD, AR - The Lady Pioneers battled to the last second to earn the home win against the Lady Mustangs of Central Baptist, 78-77.

The first half proved to be back-and-forth on both ends. Both teams struggled from the field, but they continued to battle on the defensive ends. Freshman Guard Kelcy Acklin came off the bench and sparked a fire on the offensive end as she knocked down 4/5 from beyond the arc. Going into halftime, Crowley's Ridge found themselves down three, 41-38.

The Lady Mustangs started the third quarter with more momentum and built their largest lead (eight points) at the 5:48-minute mark. Crowley's Ridge then went on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to one. Senior Guard Chelsie Spence hit a huge three-point basket late in the third quarter to tie the game.

Spence poured in another three-pointer with 6:17 left in the game to tie all scores at 60. After a few traded buckets, Acklin continued the hot shooting from three-point land to give CRC a two-point lead. Thanks to crafty lay-ups made by Bug Johnson and Alexus Taylor, the Lady Pioneers gained their largest lead of the game (six points) with 56 seconds to play. Central Baptist surged back with some hot shooting of their own to tie the game at 74 until Senior Guard Emily Eaker confidently knocked down a three in the corner to give Crowley's Ridge the lead. On the next possession, the Lady Mustangs hit a dagger three-pointer to tie the game again with five seconds remaining. After a CRC timeout, the Pioneers ran a play which led to Kelcy Acklin driving hard to the basket and getting fouled on the shot with less than three seconds to go. The freshman stepped up to the line and missed the first attempt. With the crowd on the edge of their seats, Acklin made the second free-throw and gave CRC the one-point lead and ultimately the one-point victory.

Central Baptist was led in scoring by Karlie Senko with 18 points on 4/9 from the three-point line.

Crowley's Ridge had several contributors. Chelsie Spence tallied 18 points, nine rebounds, and four assists. Elly Burrell recorded her first double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Kelcy Acklin poured in 18 points with 15 of them coming from beyond the arc.

The Lady Pioneers will hit the road on Tuesday to take on John Brown on November 14th at 6:00 PM.