BREVARD, N.C. – Junior guard Shakirah Thompson led the way with a career night, scoring 19 points with five 3-pointers as the Brevard College women's basketball team (2-2) climbed back in the win column with a 64-57 triumph over the Bob Jones University Bruins (3-3) on Tuesday evening at the Boshamer Gymnasium.
"I couldn't be more proud of our team today," said Head Coach Donald Hudson following his team's second victory of 2019. "Win or lose, the effort that I saw tonight is exactly the effort that we need to be successful the rest of this season."
Thompson's new career-high point total came on 7-of-16 shooting, including a 5-of-13 clip from long-range. The junior started off hot, knocking down 3-of-6 from distance in the first quarter. Her 19 points supplanted her previous career-high of 15 points set on November 15, 2018, vs. Berry.
Three Tornados were able to reach double-figure scoring totals, as Thompson was joined by Deja Riddick (13 points) and Taryn Ledford (10 points). Sophomore forward Breana Ware led all players with a game-high 10 rebounds, which also set the Greensboro, North Carolina native's new career-best total.
Sophomore center Avery Lockwood added eight points and eight boards off the bench, while fellow center – senior Krysta Davis – also grabbed eight rebounds.
Bob Jones was led by 15 points from Kylee Leffew, who shot 4-of-8 from the field and knocked down 6-of-7 shots from the free-throw line.
As a team, Brevard shot at a 38.7% clip to BJU's 33.3%. The Tornados were sparked by 11 3-pointers in the contest, with Thompson's five long-range shots at the helm of Brevard's attack.
Coach Hudson's squad turned its 16 turnovers caused into 17 points-off-turnovers and scored a total of 24 points in the paint. Brevard held the advantage in Tuesday's matchup for 31:23 of the contest that featured five ties and eight lead changes.
Brevard's Ledford opened the scoring up in the first half, as the junior from Cherokee, North Carolina made back-to-back 3-pointers to give BC the early lead, 6-0. Bob Jones cut Brevard's advantage to 6-5 before Thompson hit back-to-back long-range shots that pushed the Tornado advantage to 12-5. Bob Jones was able to finish the first quarter on a 12-5 scoring surge of its own – even briefly taking the lead before a Thompson 3-pointer – that put the contest deadlocked at 17-17 after the first period.
Both sides battled tightly through the second period, trading buckets in a quarter that saw three ties and six total lead changes. However, sparked by Riddick and Thompson, the Tornados finished the second quarter on a 7-0 scoring run to take a six-point, 36-30 lead into the halftime intermission.
A Victoria Green 3-pointer midway through the third period pushed Brevard's lead to a game-high 11 points at the 3:22 mark before Lockwood's layup to close out the third quarter made the score 53-41 in favor of the Tornados.
However, the Bruins battled back, opening up the fourth quarter on an 8-0 scoring run that cut Brevard's advantage to just four points at 53-49. Thompson was able to break BC's dry spell, knocking down a big 3-pointer at the 5:33 mark that brought Brevard's lead back up to seven at 56-49.
After Bob Jones cut the lead to just five points with 46 seconds left, Ware was sent to the line for two free throws at the 36-second mark. The sophomore came up key, knocking down both shots from the charity stripe to ice Brevard's victory, 64-57.
The Tornados will now focus their attention on their upcoming road trip to Pfeiffer University on Saturday, November 23. Tip-off from Misenheimer, North Carolina is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Tornados to Takeover USA South Instagram Account November 22-24: As part of the USA South Conference's "Instagram Takeover" initiative, the Brevard College women's basketball team will be taking over the USA South's Instagram account from November 22-24. The opportunity gives fans an inside look at the behind-the-scenes of various team's road trips throughout the Fall, Winter, and Spring seasons. To follow along with Brevard women's basketball's takeover, please follow @usa_south on Instagram.
To follow the latest news and updates surrounding Brevard College Athletics, follow the Tornados on Twitter and Instagram @bctornados, subscribe to 'Brevard College Tornados' on YouTube, follow 'Brevard College Tornados' on SoundCloud, and like Brevard College Athletics on Facebook. Be sure to follow "brevardcollege" on Flickr for the latest photos from all Brevard College events.
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