MACON, Ga. – The LaGrange College women's basketball team saw 13 different student-athletes find their way onto the score sheet during an 81-69 win over USA South-rival Wesleyan on Tuesday evening at Central Georgia Technical College.
The 81 points are a season high for the Panthers (12-6, 6-4 USA South), as LaGrange has won four in a row. The team has won six of its last seven, going 5-1 in the USA South during that stretch.
The Panthers have now won 28-consecutive games over Wesleyan (1-18, 1-9 USA South), dating back to the 2003-04 season. Freshman forward Morgan Grant recorded seven points and two rebounds in the second quarter. The seven points tied a career high for the impressive rookie.
"Throughout the entire game, we stayed positive, even though it was close several times," said Grant. "Our bench was huge, and every player contributed. I was relaxed and ready to play when coach put me in the game. I am willing to do anything that I can to help our team be successful."
Freshman forward Breonna Glover (6 points, 4 rebounds) tallied five points and two boards in the fourth, which held off a late Wesleyan rally. The Wolves hung around with 3-point shooting, as they went 11-for-25 (44 percent) from downtown.
Junior guard Jahpera McEachin finished with 10 points, six assists, four rebounds and four steals. The six assists tied the most by McEachin in a Panthers' uniform, while the four steals are a season high.
FIRST-HALF HIGHLIGHTS:
- Junior forward Charley Amissah-Reyes cut to the basket and converted a runner off a feed by senior captain Sarah Evans, giving the Panthers a 10-4 advantage with 6:06 left in the first quarter.
- A layup by junior center Nadia Montour off a steal and assist by senior captain Mykelli Taylor put LaGrange in front, 14-10, with 4:03 on the clock.
- Taylor stepped up and buried a left-of-the-arc 3, extending the Panthers' lead to 22-12 18 seconds into the second.
- A layup by Grant off an outstanding pass by sophomore guard Jalaya Lewis on dribble penetration allowed the visitors to take a 31-26 advantage with 3:50 on the scoreboard.
- Montour saved the ball from going out of bounds and found Grant, who banked in a short jumper, putting the team up 35-30 with 2:28 left in the second.
- A left-baseline three-ball by Grant with three seconds left sent LaGrange into intermission with a 43-35 advantage.
SECOND-HALF HIGHLIGHTS:
- Early in the third, Taylor could have taken a left-baseline 3, but she passed up a good shot for a better one. She attacked the Wolves' interior defense, locating McEachin for a wide-open, right-baseline 3-pointer, putting the unit in front, 48-39, 2:05 into the quarter.
- Cousins assisted on back-to-back baskets midway through the third. First, she set up Montour for a layup with an inbounds pass, and then she orchestrated a fast-break layup for Taylor with a look-ahead pass.
- A layup by McEachin gave the visitors a 54-43 lead with 4:52 remaining. Montour blocked a shot with two minutes left in the third, and then junior forward Megan English converted a runner in the paint on the ensuing offensive possession.
- Wesleyan ended the third on an 11-4 run, trimming the deficit down to four.
- Wesleyan came within two points early in the fourth, but Glover responded with a second-chance layup, giving LaGrange some breathing room at 60-56 with 9:09 left.
- The Panthers grabbed a 75-64 lead with 3:12 remaining in the fourth on back-to-back layups by sophomore guard Jada Brown.
- A pair of late 3-pointers by freshman guard Catherine Skebo gave the Panthers an 81-64 lead, which was their largest of the night.
WHAT THEY SAID:
Panthers Head Coach Lee Buchanan: "It was a tough game for 40 minutes. We had to play hard on both ends and found a way to finish the fourth quarter strong. We played well at times and shot the ball well all night. We played a bunch of different defenses, but they just kept hitting shots. I am proud of how we continued to keep working and played as a team. Every player that dressed for the game got on the court and we had contributions from many different players. It is an outstanding road win for our team."
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- The Panthers recorded a season-high 22 assists, while shooting 32-for-67 (47.8 percent) from the floor.
- Senior captain Sadie Desroches finished with nine points, three rebounds and three steals, shooting 4-for-7 from the floor. Montour finished with nine points, a team-high five boards and three steals. The three steals tied a career high for the post player.
- LaGrange led the rebounding category, 42-26, while winning the points-in-the-paint statistic, 46-18. The unit held advantages in bench points, 45-34, and points off turnovers, 27-8.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
- The Panthers improved to 34-2 all-time against the Wolves, as the rivalry goes back to the 1999-2000 season.
- LaGrange tallied a pair of 75-point wins over Wesleyan in 2018-19, which are tied for the third-largest margin of victory in program history.
- The 2018-19 team allowed 14 points to Wesleyan in the first matchup and 20 in the second, as those marks rank second and tied for third, respectively, in fewest points allowed in program history. In the 95-20 win at Wesleyan on Feb. 6, 2019, the Panthers recorded a program-record 27 steals.
UP NEXT:
- The Panthers will compete against USA South-foe Brevard on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Mariotti Gym.
