LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, Ga. – Junior center Nadia Montour finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and a career-high four blocked shots for the LaGrange College women's basketball team during a 61-57 setback at USA South-rival Covenant on Saturday afternoon.
The Panthers (15-10, 8-8 USA South) trailed, 51-37, entering the fourth quarter, but LaGrange cut the deficit down to three with 1:38 left and two with three seconds remaining. Junior forward Charley Amissah-Reyes finished with a career-high and team-high 11 rebounds.
Fifth-seeded LaGrange will travel to Montgomery, Alabama, on Wednesday for a first-round playoff game against fourth-seeded Huntingdon (12-13, 11-5 USA South) in the USA South Tournament, with game time set for 6:30 p.m.
Hannah Monday led Covenant (10-15, 7-9 USA South) with a double-double, featuring game highs of 26 points and 12 rebounds.
FIRST-HALF HIGHLIGHTS:
- A layup by junior guard Jahpera McEachin gave the Panthers a 9-7 advantage three minutes into the first quarter.
- Covenant took a 19-16 lead at the end of one on a layup by Monday with 1:15 on the scoreboard.
- The Scots scored the first seven points of the second quarter, taking a 26-16 lead on a layup by Monday with 7:46 remaining. A made free throw by Monday with 2:41 left gave Covenant a 38-22 lead, which was its largest of the first half.
- The Panthers responded with four-straight points, featuring two made free throws by junior guard Daijah Cousins and a layup by sophomore guard Jada Brown. A 3-point shot by Michaela Price with 30 seconds left sent the Scots into halftime with a 41-26 cushion.
SECOND-HALF HIGHLIGHTS:
- Covenant took a pair of 19-point leads in the third. After going down, 49-30, with 4:31 left in the third, the Panthers finished the game on a 27-12 run.
- A 7-0 surge at the end of the third allowed LaGrange to get back into the game. Sophomore forward Nia Johnson ended the run with an old-fashioned, 3-point play, trimming the Scots' lead down to 49-37 with 14 seconds on the clock.
- A layup by Montour brought the visitors to within six at 58-52 with 3:09 left in the fourth, and then an old-fashioned, 3-point play by McEachin made it a three-point game with 1:38 left.
- A jumper by senior captain Sadie Desroches trimmed Covenant's advantage down to 59-57 with three seconds remaining. Ruthie Moore of Covenant put the game away with two made free throws one second later.
WHAT THEY SAID:
Panthers Head Coach Lee Buchanan: "This was certainly a game of two halves. We could not do anything right in the first half and Covenant could not miss. The second half, we played hard and did a lot of good things. We made a tremendous run with about 10 minutes to go but ran out of time. It was a disappointing way to end the regular season, but we need to regroup and get ready for the conference tournament on Wednesday. We have a talented team and must do a better job with the details of the game. We need to do a much better job of putting together two halves."
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Montour shot 6-for-12 from the floor, while McEachin finished with 12 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
- LaGrange held a 29-6 advantage in bench points and a 40-24 lead in points in the paint.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
- The Panthers are 15-6 all-time against Covenant. LaGrange won the first meeting this season, 72-65, on Jan. 8 in Mariotti Gym.
- LaGrange is 9-1 in the series at home and 6-5 on the road. From 2010-17, LaGrange won 13-of-14 games in the rivalry.
