Lady Pioneers Bounce Back

Lady Pioneers Bounce Back- Wil Teague, Sports Information Director, 11-7-22

Lady Pioneer basketball hosted Mississippi University for Women tonight in their third match of the season. After coming off a close loss, 84-82, to highway rival Williams Baptist University last Thursday, the Lady Pioneers looked to bounce back. Crowley's Ridge started strong by taking an early lead in the game, and continued to build on this lead ultimately defeating the Lady Owls 76-42. 

Quarter one, despite being down a few players due to illness and injury the Pioneers would attack fast and often. It would be sophomore Claire Bellers who would step up for the Pioneers in quarter one. The Piggott, Ark. native bucketed 10 points in the first quarter leading the Pioneers to a 23-11 lead. 

Quarter two, freshmen Hunter Gibson would catch fire. Gibson would hit 2 shots from behind the arc to extend the lead over the Owls. Gibson finished 8-12 from the field for a total of 18 points in the half. Senior Octavia Lowery also played a role in this attack. The senior led the team in assists at the break including a beautiful behind the back pass to freshmen Alayzah Foster that would put the Pioneers up 49-21 at halftime.

Quarter three, freshmen Reigiana Ward and sophomore N'Kyah Edwards would deal the damage to the Lady Owls defense. Each Pioneer would add 6 points to the scoreboard while keeping the pressure on the owls, combining for 3 steals. Pioneers end the third quarter up with their biggest gap of the evening with a score of 70-32. 

Quarter four, sophomore Bellers and junior Lotti Hoffman would put their final touches on the offensive performance by producing three points each to end the game with a final score of 76-42 for the Pioneer win. The Pioneers shot 50 percent or better from the field in three quarters and finished with a team percentage of 46.8 percent overall on the evening. 

Leaders:

Hunter Gibson led the Pioneers with 23 points while adding 6 rebounds. Claire Bellers ended the evening second in points with 13 but led the team in rebounds with 9. Reigiana Ward wrapped up with 10 points.Octavia Lowery led the team in assists with 5. 

Up next:

CRC travels to Walnut Ridge, Ark. to rematch Williams Baptist University on Thursday, November 10th at 5:00pm.