Lady Bengals Finish Tourney on Sour Note
Steven Bari
The Lady Bengals found themselves outmatched after losing to Paris Junior College 90-71 Saturday afternoon.
The Lady Dragons, from Paris, Texas, are a perenially ranked team in the NJCAA’s first division. Their roster features multiple players standing six foot or taller, including Taylor Ammons, who led her team in scoring with 22 points.
Although LSU Eunice was able to strike first on the scoreboard, the 2-0 early lead would be their only of the game. Paris quickly jumped out onto a 14-0 run, and quickly took the game by the proverbial reigns. LSU Eunice made multiple attempts to close the gap in the first half, including a 9-0 run immediately following the run made by Paris to take the score to 14-9. That five point difference would be the closest the Bengals would come however the duration of the game.
Paris continued to dominate the boards, and continually win rebounds over the Bengals, and utilized their speed to outrun them to multiple fastbreak layups. At the half, Paris had recorded 20 fastbreak points to LSUE’s 4. The halftime tally was 46-26 in favor of Paris JC.
The Lady Bengals weren’t going to make it easy for Paris to cruise to victory in the second frame however, as they continued to play hard throughout the rest of the contest. LSUE was able to force multiple turnovers, and give Paris some headaches. The lead was cut to nine with just 5:42 to play, but LSUE just seemed to have run out of gas.
The Lady Bengals have had better days shooting as well, as they started from the three point range 1-17.
Jennifer Hicks continued to keep the points coming, leading the way for the Bengals with 19.
Erica Noel added 15 points, and
Phyleice Beaver led the team with eight rebounds.
LSU Eunice will look to rebound on the final game of their four part road trip when they take on Southwestern Adventist Universtiy Sunday afternoon.
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