Heartbreaker for Lady Bengals against Palm Beach State
Box Score Tied in the final seconds, the LSU Eunice Lady Bengal basketball team was whistled for a loose ball foul and saw tournament host Palm Beach State hit a free throw with 0.6 seconds remaining for an 81-80 win on Friday afternoon.
A back and forth battle most of the night, the Lady Bengals (4-9) had a chance for the final shot in the game’s closing 20 seconds and the game tied.
Chesley Dubroc’s initial shot attempt rimmed out, a second attempt also missed and the foul was whistled as the final horn sounded. After meeting, the officials put 0.6 seconds back on the clock and sent Palm Beach State to the free throw line. The hosts made their first free throw and intentionally missed the second shot for the final score.
“We played pretty well. Today was a tough one. We got a bad call at the end of the game, but I thought we shot the ball well and had good defense. We just had a few lapses there that kept the game close and it didn’t go our way at the end,” head coach
Michael Bari said.
Lida Politopoulou turned in a 18 point, 11 assist, eight steal and six rebound performance to pace the Lady Bengals, who also received 14 points each from
Meghan Cross and Dubroc. Dubroc added five rebounds and three blocks to her statline while Cross pulled down six rebounds.
Taylor Hurd finished with 13 points, five rebounds and four assists, and
Brooke Richard added a 10 point, six rebound and four assist effort for LSU Eunice.
Feleshia Walters added seven points and
Jordan Sweatt tallied four points off the bench for the Lady Bengals.
“We changed our offense a little and made some changes over break and they paid off today,” Bari said.
The Lady Bengals shot 44 percent from the floor in the game and 28 percent from three-point range.
LaQuandra Brazil led Palm Beach State with 17 points, while Lexus Love tallied 14 points. Alana Arias and Taye'Lor Trotter each added 11 points to round out the double-digit scorers. The hosts shot 53 percent from the floor and 36 percent from three-point range in their win.
LSU Eunice turns around and comes right back to play Community College of Rhode Island tomorrow afternoon, with a 2 p.m. tip off.
“They are a small team that scores a lot of points. They are very quick and are going to take it to the basket. We have a huge size advantage and are going to have to get the ball inside early and often,” Bari said.
Tomorrow’s game can be seen on
Bengal All-Access and heard over the airwaves on
KVPI 92.5 FM.
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Coach Bari’s full postgame comments:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufOrgBVqSdY&feature=youtu.be
