Eagles Finishing Strong Against Brenau

David FInney | kdkdk

Waleska, GA - With just two games remaining in the regular season, the Eagles are getting hot at the right time. Every win is important now as positioning for the conference tournament is shaping up. Tonight's matchup was with Brenau University which will be the opponent for the Thursday away game as well.  Reinhardt took care of business in Wednesday's game against Brenau winning soundly 59-46. It was a game where the Eagles did not shoot particularly well - especially from behind the three-point line, however, their intensity was high and they created opportunities by causing turnovers.

Brylee Puckett would get the first points for Reinhardt on a layup, but it was Brenau that would take an early lead causing the Eagles to play catch up early. Catherine Shope's jumper did give the Eagles a one-point lead around five minutes left in the first quarter, but Brenau would pull away as the first quarter came to an end. The Gold Tigers of Brenau would have a 17-11 lead at the end of the first.

At the start of the second quarter, Symone Williams and Katrice Jackson would hit back-to-back shots getting the Eagles back to within two. Marlie Townley would tie the game at 17 on a layup around the six-minute mark of the quarter. Torie Williams came off the bench to spark the Eagles with a three-pointer and this was followed by a layup by Tarrah Gibson, but they could not pull away from Brenau just yet. In the remaining minutes of the second quarter, the score was tied at 24 until Emilee Swafford hit a short jumper giving Reinhardt a 26-24 halftime lead.

The third quarter got started for Reinhardt when Ashley Woodroffe made a layup giving the Eagles a narrow five-point lead. They were able to make a couple of shots after this and there was a feeling that Reinhardt might start running away with it, but the Golden Tigers were hanging tight. Catherine Shope would hit two consecutive shots midway through the third quarter that started loosening up the game some. Julia Craft would score right after this and all of a sudden - the Eagles have an 8 point lead which was the largest lead to that point. The game would stay with five to seven points for the remainder of the quarter. Katrice Jackson would make four straight free throws and Abi Haynes would make a layup to get Reinhardt up, 46-37.

Abi Haynes would do most of her scoring in the final quarter of the game helping Reinhardt keep the lead on Brenau. Her move of the night was a crossover move at the elbow which sent the Golden Tiger defender sliding and opened up a lane for Haynes to go in and score. The lead was at thirteen at this point and it would stay in this range for the remainder of the fourth. The game was never in question in the second half, however, the game felt a little closer than the score indicated. There was not any doubt who was going to win, but Brenau would never really throw in the towel trying to chip away at the Eagles' lead.

The game would end 59-46 for the Eagles as the seconds rolled off the clock. Catherine Shope would lead Reinhardt in scoring with 13 points. Katrice Jackson and Brylee Puckett would both have 8 points each and Abi Haynes had 7. Haynes would have 7 assists to go with her scoring. Tarrah Gibson and Puckett would both have 6 rebounds each.

After the Eagles play Brenau in the makeup game Thursday, they will end the regular season on Saturday at 11 am against St. Andrews. Come out and support the Eagles as they honor their seniors in their final game of the regular season.