Published: November 19, 2008 10:24 pm            

Snakebit

Second half run lifts Cobras

BLUEFIELD, Va. — The Bluefield College Lady Rams hoped to begin Appalachian Athletic Conference play with a win. They got a good start, but in the end were snakebit.

Nicole Collins scored 28 points and added 14 rebounds and Kendra Newman added 24 points to lead Virginia Intermont as they went up big and then held on for a 88-86 win Wednesday night at the Bluefield College Dome.

“We’ve played a lot of games right now,” said Bluefield College head coach Steve Hardin. “We’ve played almost eight straight. I think we’re a little tired right now, more tired than I anticipated coming into the conference.”

“We’ve definitely got some things to work on,” said Virginia Intermont head coach Jaclyn Dickens. “But it was our first win, so we definitely needed it. The big thing I’m proud of is we played more together than we have and that’s why we’ve been losing.”

Collins was able to make an impact by taking the ball inside and turning her possessions into points. When she could not power for a layup, she got to the line and made 12 of 17 free throw attempts.

“I work in practice because practice pays off. A perfect practice leads to a perfect game,” Collins said. “My teammates look for me inside. So I put it in the basket.”

“She’s just got to want it and we’ve got to want to give it to her,” Dickens said. “When she wants it and puts her mind to it -- just offensive boards, she gets a lot of points off of offensive boards and putting it back up.”

“She’s going to be unbelievable in this league,” Hardin said. “We tried every package we had defensively at her to try to get her out of her rhythm. She’s a load but she’s also very skilled.”

Newman was able to make an impact as well. But she did it by shooting the lights out. She made seven of 10 field goals and five of eight from outside the 3-point arc.

“Her shooting percentage before today was eight percent. And she’s a shooter,” Dickens said. “And we need her to shoot and she’s been struggling.”

“It’s about time,” Newman said. “I’ve been in a slump for the last five games. So it’s about time. It feels great.”

Brittney Whaley led the Rams with 16 points. Kayla Lewis scored 14, and Kiara Williams and Jodi Smith each added 12.

Early on, it seemed like the Cobras might run away with the game. An early run powered by Newman gave them a 15-7 lead. But the Lady Rams came back and scored the next six points to pull back within 15-13.

It became a pattern throughout the first half. The Cobras threatened to pull away. But when they did, the Rams would hit a timely shot and get back into the game, tying the score twice.

With 4:38 to go in the opening period, Smith made a 3-point shot that gave Bluefield a 33-32 lead. It was the key shot in a 15-2 run that put the Rams ahead 41-32. They went into the locker room with a 45-39 lead.

Whaley was Bluefield’s star in the first 20 minutes, making all four of her field goal attempts and scoring 10 points. Newman led all scorers with 11 points.

The Rams’ lead did not last. The Cobras began the second half with a 6-0 run and tied the game with 18:18 left. It was only the beginning.

Soon Virginia Intermont had taken full control of the game. Their 6-0 run turned into a 23-5 run and the Cobras had a 62-50 lead. Collins scored 11 of her 28 points during the surge.

“That was the key to the basketball game,” Hardin said. “They came out and kind of took it to us with that little roll when they came out of halftime. That pretty much sealed the deal for them.

“I was pretty discouraged that we got down because I thought we were over that hump where we could handle a little bit of adversity and get over it.”

“It felt like the first five minutes took forever,” Dickens said. “We were playing hard, playing hard and we got the big lead and I look over and it said 14:44 on the clock. But they made a huge run at the end and I knew they would because they’ve got shooters and we didn’t get out on the shooters like we should have.”

Bluefield battled back valiantly, but the deficit was simply too much to overcome.

Virginia Intermont (1-5, 1-0) plays Tennessee Wesleyan on Saturday.

“We’ve got to keep playing together and keep playing hard and keep playing well,” Dickens said. “We’re capable of doing that and that’s how we won.”

Bluefield College (2-6, 0-1) hosts Montreat on Saturday.

“When somebody makes a run on us we need to know, ‘OK, let’s run a set and let’s get something good,’” Hardin said. “And I think right now we’ve just got to fix our mental aspect of the game.”

Note: The Bluefield men defeated VI 106-87 for their first win of the season. An article on that game will be in Friday’s Daily Telegraph.

—Contact Jed Lockett at

jlockett@bdtonline.com

        

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