Lady Eagles Drop Thriller to Blue Mountain

WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. - A double-double from Monica Horne and 22 points from Kaylee Clark weren't enough as the Lady Eagles fell 72-70 to the Blue Mountain College Toppers on Saturday afternoon.

The Toppers started the game on a 10-2 run before back-to-back layups from Horn and Tristan Richards cut the lead to four points. The Toppers extended their lead back out to 18-6 with 2:26 left in the first quarter. Reesa Hampton knocked down a three, Italei Gray hit a free-throw, and Clark knocked down a pair of free throws to make it 18-12 after the first quarter. 

Williams started the second quarter on a 6-2 run to cut the lead down to two with 7:39 to go until half. Clark gave the Lady Eagles their first lead with 5:03 left in the second quarter when she made a jumper to give them a 25-24 lead. The Toppers retook the lead with a jumper and then a three-pointer from Nijah Moore and a layup from Clark gave the Lady Eagles a four-point lead. It would go back and forth between the two teams until Gray made a layup with twelve seconds left in the half to give Williams a 36-35 lead going into halftime. 

The Lady Eagles continued to play hard in the third quarter and led 6:07 left in the quarter when Blue Mountain retook the lead. It was back and forth for the rest of the quarter until the Toppers went on a 10-2 run to end the third quarter with a 60-53 lead. 

The Toppers continued to lead well into the forth quarter. Abby Hodges cut the lead four when she hit a three-pointer with 7:43 remaining in the game, then a pair of free-throws from Horne cut it to two. A basket from Horne and a three-pointer from Gray gave the Lady Eagles a one-point lead with 4:05 left. The Lady Eagles led 70-66 with 1:31 left thanks to a jumper from Tristan Richards. The Toppers responded with a jumper and three-pointer of their own to take a 71-70 lead with 45 seconds left. Williams called timeout to draw up the inbounds play, but the Lady Eagles turned the ball over and had to foul the Toppers to stop the clock. The Toppers made one of their two free-throws and, again, Williams called timeout to advance the ball and draw up the inbounds play. But, yet again, they turned the ball over and couldn't get a shot off. 

The Lady Eagles shot 41.9% from the field (26-62), 41.2% from the three-point line (7-17), and 68.8% from the free-throw line (11-16). They commited 21 turnovers that led to 24 points for the Toppers. 

Horne scored her first double-double as a Lady Eagle with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Clark led all scorers with 22 points, while Richards finished with 12 and Hodges with 10. 

Up Next

The Lady Eagles travel down the road to Paragould for a matchup against Crowley's Ridge on Thursday, Nov. 3. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.