A Tight One at The Brown Athletic Center

David Finney - photo by G-Rox Photography 

Waleska, GA - The Reinhardt Eagles were in action on Wednesday late afternoon versus Tennessee Wesleyan who was sitting at third place in the conference standings with a 7-1 record.  This would be a tough test for Coach Wagoner and his team, but one where they knew they could compete and move up the standings. 

This would be a game with balanced minutes, points, and production that would go deep into the Eagle's bench.  A total of eleven players would have contributions and six bench players had an output of 28 points and 16 boards. Catherine Shope would lead the Eagles with 12 points while Abi Haynes and Ashley Woodroffe would add 11 points each. 

Tennessee Wesleyan would jump out to an early 4-0 lead but a three-pointer by Woodroffe would get the Eagles going. The scoring would be back and forth most of the first quarter, but the Eagles would see their first lead around the 4-minute mark on a layup by Shope, 11-9.  Emilee Swafford would add to this lead with a short jumper giving Reinhardt the four-point lead. A layup by Haynes and a three-pointer by Brooke Grinstead would cap off an 11-0 run for the Eagles in the first. 

The second quarter would see Tennessee Wesleyan work their way back in the game evening the score at 18. The Eagles would go on a scoring drought in the second quarter allowing Tennessee Wesleyan to go ahead 25-18 mid-way through the second quarter. It would be a free throw by Haynes that would get Reinhardt on the scoring column in the second quarter. Reinhardt would not get their first field goal for the quarter until the 3:34 mark when Tarrah Gibson would hit a jumper in the paint. The Eagles would tighten up their defense creating turnovers by Tennessee Wesleyan and a three-pointer by Julia Craft bringing the Eagles within two. Tennessee Wesleyan would go into the half with a 32 to 28 lead. 

The Eagles would tie the game at 34-34 three minutes into the third quarter with two made free-throws by Symone Williams. A layup by Woodroffe would give Reinhardt the lead again and the two teams would have several lead changes and ties for most of the third quarter. Wesleyan was able to make a short run in the final minutes of the third going up by seven. The third would end with the Eagles down by five, however, this set up the fourth quarter to be a close thriller at The Brown Athletic Center. 

Katrice Jackson would start the scoring for Reinhardt in the fourth, but Wesleyan still had their five-point lead. Shope would get the Eagles within three about mid-way through the fourth. The Eagles would keep chipping away at the lead and a three-pointer by Torie Williams would get them with two around the 2-minute mark. With around a minute left in the game, the crowd erupted as Williams would hit another three-pointer giving Reinhardt the lead. Wesleyan would claw their way back and take the lead at 70 to 68 with only seconds left in the fourth. Woodroffe had the final attempt by the Eagles, but her layup at the buzzer would come up a little short. 

Reinhardt had a solid night against a very competitive Tennessee Wesleyan team. The second quarter seemed to be the downfall for the Eagles which allowed Wesleyan to work their way back into the game after the Eagles' first-quarter lead. This is Reinhardt's second game in a row with a two-point defeat, but the team is competing with the leaders of the conference and a few tweaks by Coach Wagoner and his staff can have this team going into the Christmas break with a strong ending. 

The Eagles will be on the road this Saturday with a game with Columbia University in South Carolina at 2 pm. 

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