Eagles Lose Close One on the Road at Point

David Finney

West Point, GA -  The Eagles were on the road against Point University freshly off their win against Union College on Tuesday evening. The Skyhawks are one spot in front of Reinhardt so this was a chance to gain some ground in the conference standings as the conference tournament is just on the horizon.

The game would begin with both teams starting off a little cold as they tried to figure each other out. The first point of the game came on a free throw by the Skyhawks about a minute into the game, but Reinhardt would answer around the eight-minute mark on a layup by Tarrah Gibson. The next five points would all come from the free-throw line by Catherine Shope, Abi Haynes, and Ashley Woodroffe. Following a short jumper by Emilee Swafford to bring the Eagles within two, Point would make a 5-0 run to end the quarter with a 16 to 9 lead.

The second quarter would see the first minute go by without any points scored until a free-throw by Katrice Jackson broke the ice. Jackson followed this with a rebound and layup pushing Reinhardt closer to the Skyhawks lead.  Point was on a cold spell of their own in the second as they would not score until the six-minute mark, however, their basket was a three-pointer. It seemed every time that the Eagles would get close, Point would have a key three-pointer hit nothing but net. Jackson's back-to-back layups did get Reinhardt within three halfway through the quarter. With just three minutes to go in the second quarter, Symone Williams would knock down a key three-pointer which brought the Eagles to within one at 22-21. After a missed shot by Point, Abi Haynes would follow Williams' three-pointer with one of her own and give the Eagles the lead.  The score would stay tight the rest of the half, but a costly foul in the final seconds put Point at the line where they knocked down both free throws and took a four-point lead into halftime, 30-26.

Despite being down as much as nine in the first half and not shooting the ball particularly well, Reinhardt was right in this game and showed that they could easily play with the Skyhawks in the first half. The Eagles would tie the game within the first two minutes of the first half on layups from Gibson and Jackson. Point would get their four-point lead again until Haynes hit another big three-pointer halfway through the third quarter. Reinhardt was always able to keep the game close and at times take the lead, however, they never were able to extend any leads and Point would always have an answer on a layup, free-throws, or a three-pointer. The Skyhawks were able to get their lead up to seven points with about three minutes left in the third. After several missed shots by the Eagles, Point was pushed their lead to ten points to finish out the third quarter.

Although down by ten to start the fourth quarter, the Eagles know they have the ability to tighten down on defense and gain some ground by converting on turnovers and this is exactly what they would do. Jackson would have a short jumper in the paint soon followed by a three-pointer by Haynes and the Eagles had the lead down to six. Shortly after, Woodroffe would score on a layup and Catherin Shope would hit a long three-pointer creating some intensity in the West Point, Georgia gym and bringing the Eagles within one. Point quickly called a 30-second timeout to calm things down and figure out how they lost their ten-point lead. Reinhardt was ready to battle the remainder of the game and they would actually take the lead around the six-minute mark when Haynes would steal the ball and quickly get it in the hands of a spotted-up Shope who smoothly nailed the three-pointer silencing those in attendance.

The two teams would trade baskets for most of the fourth quarter until Point hit another one of their key three-pointers breaking the tie game with about four minutes left in the game. Reinhardt would not be able to catch the slim lead in those final minutes as the Skyhawks would continue scoring and making their free throws. Ashley Woodroffe was able to get the game back to within one in the final minute, but Point would finish out the game on a small run and take the victory 83-75.

Haynes had a strong game for the Eagles scoring 23 points and leading all scores. Reinhardt would have three other players scoring in double-figures with Jackson at 11, Shope at 10, and Woodroffe scoring 12 off the bench. The team will have to put this tough loss behind them fast as they welcome in AAC leader, Bryan University, this Saturday at 2 pm.