DECATUR, Ga. - Limited to 7 players due to injuries, Agnes Scott (1-8, 0-1 Collegiate Conference of the South) gave visiting Berry College (7-2, 0-0 SAA) all they could handle in a 68-51 loss at home at Woodruff Gymnasium. The Scotties played their most complete game of the season, as they showed marked improvement against a team that defeated them by 54 just a season ago.

Playing with 6 freshmen and senior guard Ivey Portis, the Scotties competed without two regular starters, as Sydney Evans and Laila Williams missed the contest with injuries, along with senior guard Lindsay Moore. The young lineup fell behind early as the Vikings raced to an early lead in the first quarter, running up the score to 13-0 with a little under 3 minutes to play in the opening stanza. The Scotties finally broke their scoreless streak with an Alex McElroy layup, and from then on, played the Vikings close throughout. The Vikings extended their first-quarter lead to 17-2, before freshman reserve Zania Gay nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer to inject the Scotties with momentum headed into the second.

In the second quarter, the Scotties continued to hit from long-range, as Ivey Portis drained two from behind the arc, and Ryley Jolly added a three toward the end of the quarter, as the Scotties stayed within a point of the Vikings during the quarter, heaed to halftime trailing, 29-16.

The second half started off strong for Agnes Scott, as Jonah Wood began the scoring with a long-range ball of her own, followed by an Anissa Brailsford basket that brought the Viking lead down to single digits, as the Vikings led, 29-21. The experienced and deep squad from Berry would respond, going on a 9-0 run to put the lead back at 17 (38-21), before Portis found McElroy open on the wing and she drained another three-ball for the Scotties to end the run. From that point, the Scotties continued with their own 9 point run, as Zania Gay drove the lane and dished out to Portis, who calmly sank another deep ball, followed by an old-fashioned three-point play as McElroy was fouled while sinking a layup and sank the subsequent free throw, bringing the Scotties back within single-digits once again, as they trailed, 38-30. The period would end with the Vkings leading, 45-31.

The final quarter saw the Scotties bring the lead back down to 10 as Anissa Brailsford was fouled on a made layup and completed the 3-point play with a made free throw, as the Vikings led, 51-41 with a little over 6 minutes to play. Katelyn St. Clair for the Vikings, who would end up leading the Vikings in scoring with 11, put the game out of reach down the stretch as she dropped three from long range over the last 5 minutes, finishing with 11 points on the night, off the bench. 

For the Scotties, Ivey Portis led all scorers with 16 points, to go along with 6 rebounds. Alex McElroy finished with 15 points, along with 3 steals. Narrowly missing out on a double-double, Brailsford finished with 9 points and 8 rebounds, before fouling out of the game in the 4th quarter. 

The Scotties will have a long break before taking the court again, as they look to return to full strength after the holidays, as they host CCS foe, Covenant College (4-4, 0-0 CCS), on Friday, January 3 at 6:00 p.m.