Shope Leads Eagles in Conference Win

David Finney

Waleska, GA - The Reinhardt Women's Basketball team returned to the court for their first game in over a month. With that amount of time between games, Coach Wagoner and his staff knew that it would take a little time for the team to get back to game form. The shooting was a little down from normal, however, the Eagles played with high energy and played scrappy defense. When their shots were not falling, they manufactured ways to score and they outran the Bulldogs from Union College.

The first quarter started out on a long three-pointer from Catherine Shope and this would set a tone for what she was going to do in the game. Shope's three-pointer was followed soon after with layups from Tarrah Gibson and Ashley Woodroffe to give the Eagles an early 7-4 lead. Union would hang close the entire first quarter as Coach Wagoner continued rotating players trying to find a spark, but this also gave a chance for players to catch their breath as they return to game shape. The quarter would end with the Eagles having a slight advantage 10-9.

The second quarter would see the baskets start falling for Reinhardt and the lead increased. Abi Haynes would get into the scoring column on two early layups with another layup by Woodroffe between. The Eagles' intensity picked up on defense and they started creating turnovers which lead to converted baskets. Despite not being in-game shape yet, Reinhardt was able to show their dominance on the boards and defensive quickness. When the outside shots were falling, they found open lanes to get layups and draw fouls resulting in free throws. Catherine Shope hit two free throws halfway through the second quarter which gave Reinhardt a ten-point lead. The Eagles shot 72.2% from the free-throw line as a team. Shope and Symone Williams were both 100% from the line with Shope at 3-3 and Williams at 4-4. The Eagles would enjoy a ten-point lead at the break and look to extend it in the second half.

Haynes and Shope would get the scoring started in the third quarter on a jump shot and layup, however, Union would start chipping away at the ten-point halftime lead. The Bulldogs capitalized on a few missed shots by the Eagles as the lead was trimmed to just three points halfway through the third. The Eagles would not let this rattle them as Haynes hits another jumper followed shortly by a rebound and layup from Marlie Townley. This was Townley's first action of the 2021-22 season after returning from a knee injury from the previous season. The Eagles bench and fans in attendance erupted as Townley's shot worked its way through the net giving Reinhardt a seven-point lead. 

Gibson and Woodroffe shots in the final minutes of the third pushed the lead to eleven and the Eagles never looked back. The fourth quarter belonged to Reinhardt scoring twenty points in the quarter and extending their lead to twenty points on a Katrice Jackson layup. The writing was on the wall for this game and the Eagles would finish out the game in dominant fashion.  It was not the prettiest game you'll ever see, however, it was a good showing after not playing a game in over one month. Coach Wagoner had his team prepared to pick up a win no matter what it took. Reinhardt only hit one three-pointer on the evening, but that did not stop the Eagles from creating baskets with fastbreaks and driving layups. Sometimes numbers are not an indicator of winning as Reinhardt would pick up the big conference home win, 66-42. Soon the shots will start falling for this talented team and they will be a team to watch heading into the conference tournament.

Shope and Woodroffe would lead the Eagles in scoring with 14 and 11 respectively. Haynes was just on the outside of double-figure scoring with nine. Reinhardt will be on the road at Point University this Thursday afternoon and then we get the much-anticipated home game this Saturday with conference leader, Bryan College, who is currently leading the AAC and ranked in the top 20 nationally. It should be a great day of basketball with the women's team playing at 2 pm and the men's team starting around 4 pm.