Alice Lloyd Lady Eagles fall to top seeded Shawnee State University on senior day

Pippa Passes, KY: On Saturday, January 22nd, the Alice Lloyd College Lady Eagles returned home to close out the regular season on Senior Day with the unenviable task of facing the River States Conferences top team, the Shawnee State Bears. The hosts battled hard, but SSU showed why they are the top seed by taking a 82-61 victory.

Before the game started, senior players Katie Jo Moore Gillespie and Jaylen Combs, along with staff members Koby Profitt and Hannah Stidham, were recognized for their service to the program. Once the contest got underway, the Bears came out strong behind the play of their big gun, Cianna Gloster. The Ohio club would take the stanza 27-9.

In the second quarter, the eastern Kentucky squad would have seven different players connect as they were only outscored 21-17. This enabled the Bears to lead 48-26 at intermission.

In the third period, the Bluegrass team continued to scrap, and were only outscored 18-14. Unfortunately, despite this effort, they would still trail 66-40 heading into the final ten minutes of play.

In the final quarter, the Pippa Passes posse would not go down easy as they chipped into the lead. However, Shawnee would prove up to the challenge as they never allowed the advantage to get lower than seventeen points (72-55). The victory assured SSU the best record in the conference, and handed them the leagues automatic berth to the national tournament.

For ALC (10-17; 5-11 RSC), Bailey Stewart sank 5-7 field goals to lead the club with 13 points. However, she would be the lone Lady Eagle to hit double-digits. Freshman forward Kaison Ward contributed 9 points while K. Moore Gillespie and sophomore guard Kennedy Harvel both chipped in with 8 points.

In addition, freshman guard Elivia Moore led the team with 8 rebounds, while sophomore forward Jamie Cowan led the way with 3 assists and tied Stewart with 2 steals apiece. Sophomore center Emily Estes swatted a pair of shots.

The Caney Club finished shooting 35% (21-60) from the field and 27.3% (6-22) from long range. They connected on 86.7% (13-15) from the foul line while adding 34 rebounds, 12 assists and 7 steals.

Gloster paced the Bears (24-4; 15-1 RSC) with 28 points. Her squad finished shooting 46% (29-63) from the field, 15% (3-20) from behind the arc and 58.3% (21-36) from the charity stripe. They also added 45 rebounds, 14 assists, and 12 steals.

The Lady Eagles are off until March 7th when they play host to the NCCAA Mideast Regional Tournament. Their opponent and tipoff time will be determined at a later date.