Box Score LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, Ga.—Despite scoring a season-high 65 points, Agnes Scott Basketball could not overcome a sensational night from Covenant's Joanna Smith in an 81-65 loss on Friday evening. Smith totaled 30 points in an outstanding matchup between her and Agnes' Garis Grant (Charleston, S.C.), who scored 23 in her own right.
Agnes Scott did not back down in the first half despite entering the day on a four-game losing streak. The Scots looked to carry in some momentum on their Senior Night after a handful of narrow losses to a few of the top teams in the USA South West Division, but they could not shake the visitors early on.
The Scotties and Scots traded the lead back and forth for the first five minutes of regulation, but it was Agnes Scott who held the 11-9 advantage at the midway points. However, Covenant answered with a 10-0 run to take a multi-possession lead—a foreshadowing of things for the Scots in the second half.
Agnes Scott (2-17) was able to claw its way back into the game in the second quarter, as they methodically chipped possession by possession. Trailing 21-16 at the start of the period, Grant scored five straight points to tie the game before Jahmeelah Nash-Fuller (New York, N.Y.) put the Scotties on top 23-21 by sinking a pair of free throws. Just four minutes into the quarter, Annie Weimerskirch (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) gave the Scotties their largest lead of the night when she made her first of four triples on the evening.
Unfortunately for the Scotties, Smith caught fire at the end of the first half and never lost the touch. The Scots were able to quickly turn a 28-23 deficit into a 35-30 halftime lead.
Covenant scored a season-high 27 points in the third quarter to give them a 14-point cushion entering the final stretch. The Scotties found some rhythm on offense throughout the contest but ultimately could not find enough answers for career nights from Taylor Robinson and Smith. The two blasted previous career-highs while making nearly two-thirds of their shots from the field. Robinson tacked on 19 points with a perfect 4-for-4 shooting from behind the arc.
Grant finished with a season-high 23 points to go with seven rebounds and two blocks. Friday marks the 12th straight game the sophomore forward has finished with over 10 points. Weimerskirch continued to show marked improvement after returning from an early-season injury. The sophomore guard totaled her second-best output of the season with 14 points on a season-high four makes from three. She has scored in double-digits in three consecutive contests.
Jane Lado (Louisville, Ky.) also had a strong night with nine points and nine rebounds.
The Scotties will look to get back into the win column when they head down to Macon to take on Wesleyan on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. The Wolves fell to the Scotties in Decatur two week ago, 51-45.
