It was a battle of two undefeated teams and a near-epoch comeback for Roane State’s Lady Raiders basketball team. The effort fell just short Wednesday night as they lost to no. 24 Chattanooga St., 70-64.
The loss, the first of the season for Roane St. dropped them to 9-1 overall and 3-1 in conference play.
The Lady Raiders jumped out to a 6-2 first quarter lead before Chattanooga St. rattled off nine unanswered points to take an 11-6 advantage. At the end of the period, the Lady Tigers led by eight, 25-17.
In the second, it was all Chattanooga St. as the Lady Tigers connected on an unheard of six consecutive three-pointers to take a 49-32 lead into the locker room at intermission.
The Lady Raiders won the third quarter, 16-12, to chip away at the Chattanooga lead. As the final stanza began, The Lady Tigers held a 13-point advantage, 61-48.
Roane St. opened the period going on a 10-2 run, cutting the Lady Tigers’ lead to single digits, 63-58, with 2:30 to play.
Chattanooga extended their lead back to seven points, 65-58, before the Lady Raiders’ Macy Kirby connected on a three-pointer from the left corner to cut the deficit to four points with 1:52 remaining on the game clock (and making the idea of a comeback victory a distinct possibility).
The Lady Tigers answered with a three-pointer of their own, their eighth of the night, which extended the lead back to seven, 68-61.
To win, the seven-point hole made it a three-possession game for the Lady Raiders, which was entirely possible 1:20 on the game clock.
A Monique Rudder free-throw at the 47-second mark followed by a Bralyn McGaha layup with 25.6-seconds on the clock cut the lead back to four points, 68-64.
With little time remaining, the Roane women had to begin fouling to send Chattanooga to the line.
In the final 16.3-seconds, the Lady Tigers connected on two of four free throws to secure the 70-64 victory.
Unofficially, the Lady Raiders were a respectable 26-65 (40-percent) from the field, but only 2-9 (22-percent) from beyond the arc.
The Lady Raiders, who entered the game as the fifth best free throw shooting team in the nation (75.8-percent), connected on 10 of 14 attempts (71-percent).
Individually, sophomore post Kirby Brown matched her career high in scoring with 21-points. (Ironically, Brown’s last 21-point performance came at Chattanooga St. last season.)
Sophomore guard Bralyn McGaha hit for a season-high 19, including 13 points in the first half.
Macy Kirby ended the night with 16-points for the Roane women. Her 94.4-percent free-throw percentage is currently second-best in the nation. Unfortunately, the sophomore guard did not get any attempts from the line against Chattanooga.
Original source can be found here
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