PEMBROKE — Coach John Haskins has seen countless scenarios play out in 15 years as head of the women’s basketball team at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. But even he was surprised to witness what unfolded in the middle of a 63-58 loss to Lenoir-Rhyne during the group’s home opener on Thursday night.
“That second quarter drought was unbelievable,” said a wide-eyed Haskins. “I think we got 3-point shot happy, because we shot it so well earlier.”
UNCP (1-2) opened up the game with two 3-pointers and took their biggest lead, 13-2, after a short bank shot from forward Deja McCain. The Lady Braves were 4-for-9 from beyond the arc in the first and appropriately ended the quarter with another trey, this time by guard ShaNiya Lester as she banked it in as time expired to give the team a 16-7 advantage.
But the aforementioned drought mid-way through the second quarter squashed the momentum from the first. The team hit just one 3-pointer in the period and suffered through the last 6:31 without a field goal.
Meanwhile, Lenoir-Rhyne (1-2) caught fire from deep in the second, hitting three of four and closing the gap in the process. The Lady Bears took their first lead on a mid-range jumper from forward Karlie Bearden that made the score 22-21 with 4:17 left in the half.
“I just think we settled too much,” Haskins said about the dry spell. “And when we did get it inside…we were 1-for-10 in the post in the first half.”
A strategic change from Lenoir-Rhyne coach Cameron Sealey played a part in pushing the UNCP offense outside the paint and forcing ill-advised long shots. In the late stages of the first quarter, the Lady Bears defense switched to a 2-3 zone and it disrupted the pace of the game and confused Lady Braves ball handlers.
The only points from the home team in the last half of the second quarter came from starting guard Tee Graham, when she pressured the ball and collected one of her game-high five steals, speeding the other way to cause a foul as she attempted a layup. Graham made one of two from the line, then split another pair of free throws on the next trip down making the score 24-23 as the Lady Braves trailed at the half.
Graham was a bright spot for the team and pushed through the lulls with her playmaking and scrappy defense. She finished with 12 points and a team-high five assists, something that was a key focus for the redshirt junior coming into the year.
“Last season I didn’t have a good offensive season, and with this year, I felt like I had to pick up the slack…and knew I had to play offense and defense for our team to be successful,” Graham said.
With 7:30 left in the third quarter, it was Graham who broke the scoreless field-goal seal when she hit a pull-up jump shot in transition. She hit two 3’s in the quarter and sparked a renewed energy for the team. UNCP took back the lead, 37-35 on a short jumper by Aliyah Farmer (11 points) with 4:01 left in the period.
The Lady Braves trailed 49-39 heading into the final quarter, however, as the Lady Bears’ long-range shooting proved to be too much.
Overall, the visitors shot 11-for-24 from downtonwn, led by guard Kendall Toineeta who finished with a team-high 18 points, hitting 3 of 4 treys. Compounding matters, McCain went down with a lower leg injury in the fourth, and a small team got even smaller. The Lady Bears took advantage from the interior, especially forward Madi Suddreth who finished with 10 points and eight rebound.
UNCP guard Melanie Horne led the team with three 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 15 points. Her triple with 2:30 left gave the Lady Braves a 56-54 lead. But another deadly drought, lasting over two minutes, ended the game as the Lady Bears took advantage with a 8-0 run.
“It was a very winnable game, we just didn’t make the plays down the stretch,” Haskins said about the final moments.
The Lady Braves are back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Fayetteville State.
