BREVARD, N.C. – The Brevard College women's basketball team (13-8, 9-5 USAS) dropped a USA South Conference contest 62-49 to Meredith College (7-14, 7-7 USAS) on Saturday afternoon at the Boshamer Gymnasium.
Prior to the game, senior Journey Tyler was honored as the BC women's basketball program's lone senior in a Senior Day ceremony which included Tyler's family and teammates in front of the Boshamer Gymnasium crowd. Tyler, a guard from Knoxville, Tennessee, is a Dean's List student-athlete who will graduate this spring with a Bachelor's degree in English with a Literary Studies concentration and minors in Coaching, Education and Exercise Science. On the court, she has appeared in 34 games including 15 starts her senior season. Tyler scored a career-high 12 points earlier this season on the road in a victory at NC Wesleyan.
On Saturday, the Tornados were led by sophomore center Naliyah Boyce who came off the bench to score a career-best 18 points and pull down a career-high 11 rebounds. It marked the second career double-double for the native of Marion, North Carolina who has now scored in double figures in seven games this season. Eight of her 11 rebounds came on the offensive glass to also mark a career-high in offensive boards for Boyce.
No other Tornado scored in double figures as nine different BC players hit the scoring column. Thirty of BC's 49 points came from the bench. Conversely, 57 of MC's 62 points came from their starters with only five bench points.
Meredith was led by Kate Perko, the leading scorer and rebounder in the USA South Conference. Perko scored 32 points on 14 made field goals to go along with a game-high 17 rebounds.
Meredith outscored BC 17-9 in the first quarter. Brevard's Makenna Parkins hit a jumper with 5:40 to play in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 22-19. However, Meredith reeled off a 13-2 scoring run to close out the first half and take a 35-21 lead into the break.
The two teams played even in the third quarter, each scoring 15 points. The Avenging Angels then outlasted BC with a 13-12 in the final stanza as the Tornados were unable to get into striking distance in the game's final minutes.
Meredith outshot Brevard 47% to 28% from the field. BC struggled from beyond the arc, making just three 3-pointers in 23 attempts. BC won the turnover battle, 18-13 en route to capitalizing on 10 points-off-turnovers.
Brevard will prepare this week for its next game on Saturday, February 11 at Methodist University in Fayetteville, North Carolina. BC's final home game will take place on Wednesday, February 15 vs. Greensboro at the Boshamer Gymnasium before the regular-season finale at Salem in Winston Salem, North Carolina on Feb. 18.
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-BC-