Lady Bulldogs rally, but fall short in 50-45 loss

HANCEVILLE – Belgreen’s return to the Northwest Regional Basketball Tournament ended with a 50-45 loss to Berry in the opening round.

After trailing for much of the game, the Lady Bulldogs (20-8) rallied and tied the game 42-42 on a 3-pointer by Lydia DeVaney in the final two minutes. Berry then began an 8-3 run to secure the win.

“They played hard and I feel like we let up,” said Belgreen coach Shauna Humphries. “We didn’t have intensity throughout the game.”

The Lady Bulldogs led 9-7 at the end of the first quarter, but Berry’s offense was able to find its rhythm and outscored Belgreen 16-10 in the second.

Belgreen trailed by as many as eight points in the third before beginning its comeback.

Berry (23-6) used strong rebounding to limit the Lady Bulldogs’ opportunity at second-chance points. The Lady Wildcats had 32 defensive rebounds and held Belgreen to seven second-chance points.

Berry had 45 total rebounds compared with Belgreen’s 37 rebounds. Whitney Davis had 15 defensive rebounds and 20 total rebounds for Berry.

The Lady Wildcats also had a distinct advantage in free throws. They were 14-of-19 from the charity stripe while Belgreen attempted only two free throws during the game.

“We fouled a lot more than we should have,” Humphries said. “And we didn’t drive the ball.”

 Erica Smith led Belgreen with 15 points, hitting three 3-pointers. Alivia Holcomb scored 12 and DeVaney had 10 points. Also scoring for the Lady Bulldogs were Katelin Barber (4) and Sara McMahan (4).

Emma Herron was the leading scorer for Berry with 20 points.