Written by: Danny Talbert
Zyhia Johnson's 17-point game helps the Panthers push past Agnes Scott 85-57 (Feb. 6).
First half details
The Panthers started tonight's game in a full court press, which absolutely stifled the Agnes Scott offense. In the first three minutes, LC was up 11-2. Zyhia Johnson came out the gate on fire. In the first quarter, the Georgia native scored a team-high nine points after hitting three deep threes. In the final handful of Panther possessions of the quarter, LC turned the ball over multiple times, which allowed Agnes Scott back into the game. At the end of one, the Panthers led 17-15. Agnes Scott's offense ran through junior Sydney Evans. The 6'4" forward would sit in Panther paint and use her height to shoot over LC defenders. Despite being shorter than Evans, both Taylor Smith and Amanda Mclendon stepped up tonight to cover the tall forward. After the Panthers hit back-to-back threes, Agnes Scott was forced to call a time-out to try and stop the bleeding. With five minutes remaining in the half, LC had a 34-20 lead and the Terriers could not do anything to slow them down. The Panthers would cruise into halftime up 47-28. As mentioned, the LC front court was playing lights out against a big and athletic forward. In the first half, the Panthers were outscoring Agnes Scott in the paint 25-16 and out-rebounding Agnes Scott 32-20. Zyhia Johnson finished the half with a team-high 12 points, shooting 44% and 38% from three.
Second half details
The Panthers came out in the third quarter firing on all cylinders. LC started on a 6-0 run thanks to Zyhia Johnson and Laila Battle hitting back-to-back threes. Similarly to the Huntingdon game (Jan. 20), the big lead allowed Coach Jonus to rotate in a lot of different players tonight. With five minutes left in the third, 15 Panthers had seen time on the court. It did not matter which rotation LC would run tonight, each Panther was blocking passing lanes on defense, hustling for rebounds and using great communication. Not only were the Panthers playing great, but the bench was fully invested in cheering their teammates on. LC would go on to win 85-57.
Top Panther performance
Tonight was truly a team-win for LC. Close to the full roster got playing minutes and 12 different Panthers scored. As mentioned, the team not only played great together but they also were cheering on each other until the very last whistle.
Next game details
The Panthers host Covenant this Friday (Feb. 9) at 5 p.m.
