Eagles Wrap up Regular Season With 20-Point Rout of Bears

By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media

Photo Courtesy of Greg Spell/G-RoxPhotos.com

CLEVELAND, Ga. – Women's basketball was able to finish the regular season with three-consecutive victories within the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) on Tuesday evening following its 82-62 win over the Truett McConnell (Ga.) Bears inside the Benjamin F. Brady Arena.

The duo of Catherine Shope (18 points and 8 rebounds) and Abi Haynes (15 points and 5 steals) paced a widespread offensive attack for the Eagles as they improved to 10-5 overall (10-5 AAC).

"We are really proud of our ladies tonight," head coach Toby Wagoner said. "They sure did compete from start to finish. Another game and another team effort. I feel like we can be a really fun team to watch when our defense gets stops and rebounds. This puts us in our transition, and this puts pressure on our opponents' defense. I keep asking myself 'Where has this season gone? How can we possibly be preparing for AAC Tournament?' There's no doubt we feel very blessed to get 15 games in this season. Honestly, practice and games are a great distraction right now, because with everything going on this year, it's been hard for everyone everywhere.

"Our seniors from last year (Amberlee, Amanda, Ashton and Bethany) to our current (Britt, Havyn, Reka and Moe) have been awesome people to lead us all. We are taking practice off tomorrow and starting back up on Thursday with a goal to make each day count. I feel like it's really important to recognize and thank EVERYONE, conference-wide, for all their work and support to make this season happen. There's no question that everyone earned their paychecks this year. It's been crazy and it's been difficult, but together, our conference made it happen… We are so very grateful and appreciate everyone."

Reinhardt and Truett McConnell were pretty evenly matched throughout the first half as both teams played solid basketball in the opening 20 minutes. A small, two-point advantage for the Eagles was ballooned to 13 in the second period after the hometown squad put together an 11-2 scoring spree with 4:31 left until the break.

The Bears continued to fight and got back within eight heading to the locker room at 40-32.

Reinhardt has had a habit of coming out in the third quarter and playing at another level, and tonight was no different, as the visitors stretched its cushion to 17 tallies following a 19-10 overall period and a 59-42 score.

The hosts tried their best to get back into contention, but it wasn't meant to be after they failed to get back within 12 points the rest of the way after falling behind by 20 tallies on multiple occasions. Whether it was big defensive stops or clutch makes on the offensive end, the Eagles always had an answer for the Bears on this night.

Not to be outdone, both Brittany Burnett and Brylee Puckett chipped in with eight points and seven rebounds apiece.

Five additional players on the Reinhardt bench collected at least four points each as well in the triumph.

The Eagles shot 26-of-64 (40.6 percent) and got to the free throw line 31 times with 23 makes.

The hometown club outrebounded Truett McConnell, 45-33. It also had 18 assists and 14 steals.

The top 10 teams in the conference will advance to the 2021 AAC Tournament, which is set for Feb. 24-27 at the MeadowView Marriott Conference Resort & Convention Center in Kingsport, Tenn.

Details on Reinhardt's first opponent will be revealed soon. 

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For more information on Reinhardt Women's Basketball, please click here.