#12 Women’s Basketball’s SAC lead tightens with loss at Lenoir-Rhyne

Hickory, N.C. —- The 12th-ranked Catawba College women's basketball team concluded its three-game road trip with an 81-66 loss at Lenoir-Rhyne in Shuford Memorial Arena in South Atlantic Conference action on Wednesday evening.

TEAM STATS

- Lenoir-Rhyne shot 24-for-51 (47 percent) from the field; Catawba was 24-of-60 (40 percent)

- The Bears were 7-for-16 (44 percent) from three-point range, while the Catawba Indians were 4-of-20 (20 percent) from deep

- LR had a massive advantage at the free throw line, converting 26 of 35 (74 percent) of their foul shots to 14-for-22 (64 percent) for Catawba

- The Catawba Indians out-rebounded Lenoir-Rhyne 38-31, leading to a 15-8 advantage in second-chance points

- Catawba recorded 12 assists to 25 turnovers, while the Bears had 10 assists to 17 turnovers; LR held a 33-16 advantage in points off turnovers

- The Catawba Indians held the remaining edges in points in the paint (40-24), fastbreak points (11-10) and bench points (35-19)

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Lyrik Thorne once again led Catawba in scoring with 17 points, three assists and four steals

- Janiya Downs added 12 points on 6-for-12 shooting with six rebounds

- Sara McIntosh also recorded 12 points with five rebounds

- Janiya Foskey had nine points and seven boards in 12 minutes in her return to action

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST QUARTER

- Catawba scored the game's first eight points after McIntosh's jumper

- The lead grew to as much as 14-4 after Mary Spry's layup at the 3:26 mark

- Lenoir-Rhyne utilized a 7-0 run to cut their deficit to a single possession

- Jalen Gathers' late layup made it a 14-3 run to end the quarter with LR leading 18-17

SECOND QUARTER

- The Bears extended their run to 21-3 in the second quarter, leading 25-17 with under nine to play in the half

- LR pushed their advantage to 15 points just under the six-minute mark

- Catawba answered with baskets from Downs and Thorne to slow the Bears' run

- Brooklin Ingram's triple with under a minute to go cut the Catawba Indian deficit to 41-32 at the halftime break

THIRD QUARTER

- Lenoir-Rhyne scored the first four points of the second half, leading by 13 after Maleiya Hill's three-pointer just north of the 8-minute mark

- The Catawba deficit got to as little as 10, but LR answered with a 7-0 run to push their lead to 54-37

- Sydney Gueterman's three-pointer brought the Catawba Indians within 13

- The Bears led by 16, 63-47, after three quarters

FOURTH QUARTER

- Thorne converted two of three free throws, as Catawba whittled their deficit down to 12 points at the 9-minute mark

- Foskey's lay-in saw LR's lead cut to single digits, 67-59, at the 7:17 mark

- The Bears answered with eight unanswered points to return their lead to 16; their lead never got below 15 the rest of the way

UP NEXT

- Catawba looks to bounce back on Saturday, returning to Goodman Arena for the first time in two weeks, as they host Coker for their Play 4 Kay Pink Out game at 2 p.m.