The women’s basketball team got their revenge against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks after a 61-49 win at the Curb Event Center on Saturday afternoon.
Senior Ellie Harmeyer tied her career high 30 points paired with 12 boards in her 18th double-double this season. This was the second 30 point game that she’s put up in her career, and just over a year after her first on February 2, 2019 against UT Martin.
The Bruins opened the game with back-to-back plays in the post showing their ability to break down the defense early.
They continued to go on an 11-0 run over the first four and a half minutes, that consisted of 11 straight baskets from Harmeyer. The Bruins early and outstanding efforts forced the Gamecocks to take a timeout losing 13-4.
The Gamecocks were able to give themselves a chance at the end of the quarter by drawing two fouls to get to the line, but were only able to convert half of them and add two on the board. The Bruins held the Gamecocks to under 6 points in the quarter, with a comfortable lead at 15-6.
Jacksonville came more determined to the second quarter, showing signs of life in their defense by holding the Bruins to a three minute scoring drought. However they could not hold the Bruins or Harmeyer back for long. They allowed her to put up 11 of the 21 bruin points in the second quarter, matching the the Gamecocks total points in the quarter at 11 as well.
Harmeyer went off for 22 points going 8-12 in the first half, to bring the score to 36-17 at the Halftime.
Despite last minute efforts in the third quarter, an 8-0 run couldn’t bring the Gamecocks within a hopeful deficit as they were still down by over 20 going into the fourth, the score being 49-28.
They did however heat up in the fourth with a 12-0 run in four minutes and at the same time holding the Bruins to a four minute drought.
With a three from senior Maddie Wright, the Bruin offense lit up once again, solidifying the over a Jacksonville team that beat them by nearly 20 just two weeks before.
Wright also had herself a great game, going 6-10 with 16 points to help lead the Bruins to their fourth straight win.
Next, the Bruins hit the road and travel to Morehead, Kentucky where they will take on the Morehead State Eagles. Tip off is set for 4 p.m. on Thursday.
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Article written by Julieann Challacombe. Photos by Bronte Lebo.