Lady Barons Play At Jimmy Faulker Classic

Courtesy of BPC

The Lady Barons of Brewton-Parker College played two games last week as they took part in the Jimmy Faulkner Classic.

BPC vs. Bethel Brewton-Parker Women’s Basketball opened its weekend at the Jimmy Faulkner Classic hosted by fellow SSAC member Faulkner (Ala.) with a tough challenge against Bethel (Tenn.) on Friday night in Montgomery, Ala.

The Lady Barons (41) were outlasted by the Wildcats (3-2) in a tough 57-47 loss in neutral territory. Despite the loss, a career milestone was met for Brewton-Parker’s Madison Evans as the point guard from Savannah, Ga., eclipsed the 1,000-point mark in her career as a Lady Baron.

“Bethel was better than us today,” Head Coach Steve Edwards said. “We were okay defensively, but we did not get it done offensively. Bethel’s defense had a lot to do with that, but I must do a better job of putting the team in successful situations.”

“Today will make us better, and that is why we play games like this,” Edwards mentioned.

Brewton-Parker cracked the game open with a 7-2 run in the first couple of minutes before the Wildcats clawed their way back to their first lead. Bethel took the next few minutes to capture a 10-9 lead with 3:49 to play, but a free throw from Evans 40 seconds later tied things up.

Bethel knocked down a trey at the 2:50 mark to reclaim the lead. A’Aliyah Clay responded with a three herself to level the score at 13-13 to close out the quarter.

A jumper from Le’la Wright gave BPC a twopoint edge to open the second frame, but Bethel responded with back-toback threes, boosting the Wildcats to a 19-15 lead with 8:41 on the clock. Bethel followed up the next minute or so with a bucket and an “and-one” for an eight-point advantage.

For the next few minutes, scoring came few and far between for either team. However, Brewton-Parker managed to find a trey from Samerria Bryant with 6:20 left followed by two points from Keonya Mincey with 5:10 until half time. BPC eventually leveled things at 26-all with two points from Drexelle Ward and three from Evans, leaving 90 seconds on the clock.

Both teams finished the last five or so minutes, scoring seven points to close out the second quarter. Bethel outscored Brewton-Parker 18-15 in the period to go into the intermission with a 31-27 lead.

The third quarter was not so kind to the Lady Barons, as the Wildcats were able to best BPC 13-7 in the period. Bethel was able to close out the third frame with a 44-35 lead with just 10 minutes ahead of them to hold on.

Brewton-Parker struggled to land shots, shooting for just 15.4% from the floor and 12.5% from beyond the arc. The Lady Barons were able to only net a three-pointer, a jumper, and a pair of free throws.

Evans opened things up at the 8:38 mark to cut the BU deficit to seven points; however, the Wildcats produced four unanswered points to move into a 48-37 lead nearly a minute later. Cori Keats responded with a three-pointer to move back into a single-digit deficit, yet Bethel continued to answer.

A jumper from Evans with 5:06 to play moved the Lady Barons under double figures for the final time of the game as the Wildcats led 50-42. Bethel essentially shut down the next four minutes, going on a 7-0 run to lead 57-42 with 67 seconds to play.

Angel McRae found a score with less than a minute to play and Keats managed to knock down one final three with 17 seconds to close out the game with a 57-47 scoreline in favor of Bethel.

Brewton-Parker finished the night shooting for 31.5% (17-of-54) from the floor, 23.1% (6-of-26) from three, and 63.6% (7of-11) from the foul line. Evans led the scoring efforts with 12 points to surpass 1,000 career points as a Lady Baron. Mincey scored eight points while McRae went for six points and six rebounds. Bethel dominated the glass with a 4127 advantage in rebounds. The BPC defensive efforts helped force 20 turnovers and gathered eight steals.

BPC vs. Midway

Brewton-Parker Women’s Basketball continued its weekend in Montgomery, Ala., in a challenging matchup against Midway (Ky.) on Saturday afternoon. Stunningly, the Lady Barons (5-1) were able to slip away from the Eagles (03) in the nick of time, winning a tight one-point victory with 0.3 seconds left on the second day of the Jimmy Faulkner Classic.

“Today was a tough game,” Head Coach Steve Edwards said. “We controlled the game, but we could not close Midway out. They have a good group and they made plays down the stretch.”

“We have battled all sorts of adversity over the last week,” Edwards added. “Some of our group is battling injuries and sicknesses. Today was a microcosm of all of that. However, we found a way to push through adversity to win and I am proud of our group.”

Buckets from A’Aliyah Clay and Madison Evans in the opening minute of play gave Brewton-Parker a 4-0 lead before Midway was able to net a response with their first score at the 8:41 mark.

The Lady Barons shifted into gear for the next 54 seconds to go on a 7-0 run highlighted by treys from Cori Keats and Clay for an 11-2 lead with 7:08 on the clock. Midway answered well with a 15-4 run over the next four minutes to reclaim a 17-15 lead.

The opening quarter closed out with a couple of scores of back-andforth play as both teams traded shares of the scoreline. BPC had the final say with a big three-pointer from Samerria Bryant closing the first 10 minutes with a 22-21 lead.

The Lady Barons opened the second installment with a deep-range jumper from Keats followed up by a layup from Tajahnae Wiggins for an early 27-21. Unfortunately, scoring became cold for Brewton-Parker as Midway took six minutes off the clock to go on a 10-2 run.

After a pair of baskets from Le’la Wright at the 2:20 mark, Brewton-Parker tied the game up at 31-all with a jumper from Keonya Mincey. Mincey closed out the quarter for BPC with an “and-one” as both teams finished with three points each for a 3434 ballgame at the break.

Four points from Evans and a pair from Wiggins produced a 6-2 BPC run out of the half-time break, giving the Lady Barons a 40-36 lead with eight and a half minutes on the clock.

Midway began chipping away at the deficit and eventually claimed a 43-42 lead on a 7-2 run with 6:06 remaining. Brewton-Parker bested Midway 12-9 down the stretch and was led by four points from Evans and four others with a pair of points each, closing the third quarter with a 54-52 lead.

The Lady Barons shot for 38.9% (7-of-18) from the floor and perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe to edge out the Eagles in a 20-18 quarter.

The visitors on the scoreboard utilized a 6-2 run in the first three and a half minutes to secure a 58-56 lead over Brewton-Parker. Over the next three and a half minutes, BPC gathered an 11-4 run of their own which was highlighted by two big deep-range buckets from Mincey.

After capturing a 6762 lead with 2:58 on the clock, Brewton-Parker struggled to seal up the advantage over the Eagles as they gained a huge shift in momentum. Midway outscored the Lady Barons 5-2 within a minute of play and were behind by just two points with less than 90 seconds to play.

Both teams did a great job of locking each other down late in the game until Midway was able to find space for a sucker punch of a three-pointer with three-tenths of a second left on the clock to go ahead 70-69 over Brewton- Parker. After a timeout from each side, BPC was able to advance the ball for a sideline play with virtually no time left.

However, Coach Edwards set up the perfect inbounds play for Clay to find Angel McRae wideopen under the basket to get a layup off just in time to beat out the buzzer and secure a thrilling 71-70 win over Midway.

Brewton-Parker finished the night shooting for 41.5% (27-of-65) from the floor, 26.1% (6-of-23) from three, and 84.6% (11-of-13) from the foul line. Evans led the charge with 16 points and seven rebounds while dishing out three assists. Mincey netted 13 points followed by Wiggins with 10. Clay and Mincey both dished out three assists alongside Evans. BPC forced 17 turnovers while gathering six steals.