Lady Pioneers Fall in Regular Season Finale

February 23, 2021

by Dustin Semore, Sports Information Director

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - A slow start doomed the Crowley's Ridge College Lady Pioneers in the regular season finale as they fell to the Patriots of Baptist Bible (Mo.) College 84-63.

It took Crowley's Ridge (7-8) over four minutes to record their first field goal, while Baptist Bible stormed out to a 7-1 lead. BBC's Josie Sullivan outscored the Lady 'Neers on her own by bucketing nine by herself to CRC's eight-point total as the Patriots cruised to a 17-8 lead after the opening quarter.

Mickayla Smith picked up the slack for the Lady Pioneers in the second quarter, draining back-to-back 3pt FGs to pull her team within ten points of the Patriots (14-11). A quick charge from BBC sent the teams to intermission with Baptist Bible ahead 38-23.

Crowley's Ridge nearly doubled their point total from the second quarter's 15 points to their game's best quarter total of 29 points in the third. Smith hit three from downtown in quick succession to cut into the Patriot lead. In the waning moments, BBC went on a 10-0 run to pull ahead to a 67-52 lead. CRC's leading scorer Octavia Lowery exited the game midway through the quarter with a lower-body injury.

The Lady 'Neers opened the final quarter by scoring eight points before going ice cold from the floor: connecting on one field goal in the final 4:12 of play as they heard the buzzer sound the defeat 84-63.

Smith has collected 20+ points in three out of the last four games and continued the trend by scoring a team-high 22 points, all from beyond the arc.

Travia Woodruff earned a season-high 19 points in the loss.

UP NEXT

Crowley's Ridge will enjoy the pomp and circumstance of a conference tournament while relishing playing in the own barn as the Carter Activities Center will host the 2020-21 A.I.I. Conference Championships. Full info here.

The second-seeded Lady Pioneers will take on three seed Lincoln Christian (Ill.) University on Friday at 2 p.m.