Women's Basketball Falls to Bluefield

Bluefield, Va.- The women's basketball team went back on the road for an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) game on Saturday. The schedule took the team to Virginia to face the Bluefield University Lady Rams.

Early in the game, the Lady Bulldogs could not buy a basket as Bluefield went ahead 7-0. Yeika Jimenez Diaz's free throw started a 9-2 run for TWU. Ashley Baxter followed with a three-pointer while Diaz hit a layup and a three-point basket to tie the game 9-9. After the opponents broke the tie, Jordan Wright gave the team their first lead of the game with a three-point jumper making the score 12-11. Ella Crowder got involved in the scoring, hitting a three-point basket to give the Lady Bulldogs back the lead with the score 15-14. A layup by Wright was the final basket of the quarter, giving Tennessee Wesleyan a 17-16 advantage to begin the second quarter.

Bluefield scored the first five points of the second quarter to put the Lady Bulldogs in a 21-17 hole. TWU responded with seven straight points of their own, coming from the combo of Diaz, Jacelyn Stone, and Anna Crowder to change the lead back to the team's favor. Bluefield came back to take a one-point lead before back-to-back Jaci Powell layups gave the Lady Bulldogs a 28-25 lead with 2:53 until halftime. Over the remainder of the quarter, the lead changed two more times. A free throw from Mayo forced the final lead change of the quarter, and a layup from Diaz helped Tennessee Wesleyan take a 34-32 lead into the halftime break.

The opponents opened the third quarter on a 13-5 run to give them a 45-39 advantage. The response from the Lady Bulldogs turned the deficit into a four-point lead after a 10-0 run. Diaz, Mayo, Abbey Barr, and Powell combined to score in the rally to give the team a 49-45 lead. Diaz hit a jump shot at the end of the quarter to help the team lead 51-50.

In a game that featured 15 lead changes, the beginning of the fourth quarter was no different. Bluefield took the first lead out of the quarter break, followed by Stone putting the Lady Bulldogs back ahead 53-52. The opponents scored again to move ahead, taking a six-point lead over their next few possessions. TWU started to storm back, using Wright and Stone baskets to cut the Bluefield lead down to two points. With the score 61-59, the opponents changed the narrative of the game by scoring nine straight points to move ahead 70-59. The Lady Bulldogs were not able to recover from the run, falling in the game 76-69.

Diaz finished the game with a career-high 23 points and career-high 12 rebounds. Mayo added 10 points for the team.

Tennessee Wesleyan (5-4, 3-4 AAC) play their final home game of the year 2022 on Wednesday when they host Brenau University. Tip in the AAC contest is set for 5:30 p.m.