RAEFORD — After their first two Southeastern conference games, the Lady Scots are still searching for their first conference victory. The team started the week out with a 43-30 loss to Pinecrest, but the Lady Scots execution of defense has improved from the beginning of 2017.
The Lady Scots, as they have done many times this season, bounced back on Friday in the second half against Hoke but it wasn’t enough to erase a 20-point deficit. The second half surge on defense by the Lady Scots closed the gap, but the night still resulted in a 46-36 loss on the road against Hoke. The two teams were sitting in the middle of the SEC standings, with the Lady Scots having a slight edge to take third place with Hoke right behind in fourth before the week started.
It was a painfully slow first half for the Lady Scots, who only managed to put nine points on the board. The Lady Bucks on the other hand set a blistering pace from tip off to take a 20-point into halftime, 29-9.
The Lady Scots offense struggled against the pressure of Hoke’s defense, almost all of their offensive possessions were one shot and done due to their inability to come up with any rebounds — on their end of the floor. Hoke kept several possessions alive as they out rebounded the Lady Scots, despite being similar in size and height.
Everything that wasn’t working for the Lady Scots on Friday night was firing on all cylinders for the Lady Bucks, as they took a 10-0 lead early in the first quarter before Lady Scots coach Mallarie Snow called a timeout to try and regroup. The effort had little effect as Hoke scored two more baskets to take a 14-0 lead before the Lady Scots Nautika Moore finally put the basket for three.
By the end of the first quarter, Hoke had taken a 21-4 lead. The Lady Scots finally slowed down the Hoke offense in the second quarter, only allowing them to score nine points. Despite the improved defense, the Lady Scots offense continued to struggle, only scoring four more point before the break to head into the locker room down, 8-29.
The second half saw a much different Lady Scots team take the court, as they put full-court pressure on the Lady Bucks that resulted in five Hoke turnovers. Combined with the increased pressure, the Lady Scots outscored Hoke, 13-6 in the third quarter to put themselves right back in the game, only down 21-35.
The Lady Scots unfortunately had dug themselves too deep of a hole in the first half to come back from. With only eight minutes left to play, the Lady Scots couldn’t bridge the gap, falling to the Lady Bucks, 36-46.
With the loss the Lady Scots move to 6-8 overall and 0-2 in SEC play. Hoke moves to 8-8 overall and 2-1 in the SEC.
The Lady Scots will have a week off before hosting Lumberton (11-1, 1-0) on Jan. 20 in their first SEC home game. Tip off is set for 6 p.m.
Amber Hatten can be reached at 910-506-3170.
