Lady Bengals fall in heartbreaker
PENSACOLA, Fla. - The Lady Pirates hit a free throw in the final seconds to grab a 61-60 win over the under-manned but scrappy LSU Eunice Lady Bengals in the second day of the Pensacola State Classic.
A day after struggling in a 117-51 loss to Northwest Florida State College, the Lady Bengals battled with just five players against a deeper Pensacola State bench.
Pensacola (7-6) jumped out to an early 24-13 lead but LSU Eunice responded with a 17-6 run to force a 30-30 tie at the break.
The Lady Bengals continued to fight with a 16-12 surge to take a 46-42 advantage as the two teams clawed for the upper-hand.
The home-standing Lady Pirates responded, out-scoring LSU Eunice 17-14 as the game neared the end of regulation.
Meghan Knight scored on a put-back with 10 seconds left as the Lady Bengals tied the game, 60-60.
After a foul was called with 1.7 seconds left, Gabrielle Figgers hit one of two free throws to seal the win for Pensacola.
Amber Richard led the Lady Bengals with 15 points, while Katie Lemieux chipped in 12 and Meghan Knight added 10 points. Amber Braxton and Erin Maddox scored nine points.
Braxton and Knight led the team with 11 rebounds each, while Richard grabbed eight boards. Lemieux and Maddox each had seven rebounds against Pensacola State College.
"The girls really battled in a tough game with so many lead changes," Lady Bengal head coach Amanda Clemons said. "I am so proud of them as they played hard as we were missing so many players due to injuries."
Against Northwest Florida, Lemieux led with 19 points, while Braxton chipped in 15 points. Richard added seven points, followed by Knight (6) and Maddox (4).
LSU Eunice (0-12) travel to Blinn College on Tuesday before taking a break before returning to the court on Jan. 2.
