Friday night's Mid-Southeastern 4-A Conference rematch in Laurinburg was a different story, as the Scots came out on fire in the first quarter and never looked back in an 81-60 victory over the Raiders. The win was of vital importance for the second-place Scots, who create a two-game lead over Richmond (10-6, 6-5) in league play with the win.
Scotland improves to 15-4 overall and 8-3 in M-SEC play with Friday's win. The Lady Scots have won seven games this season by 20 or more points, and four of those wins have come in the last six games.
Scotland guard Alexis McNeil has busted out with the occasional huge game this season, and she did it again against Richmond. McNeil's 24 points led all scorers, and she added team highs of eight rebounds and five steals. McNeil has a beautiful shot with lots of arc, and she has good touch with a one-handed floater she likes to use in traffic near the rim.
What McNeil does not always have is an abundance of confidence, but she is a player who, if feeling it early, can cause lots of problems for opposing teams.
"She has a lot to offer," said SHS head coach David Johnson of McNeil. "The thing I keep stressing to her is, some nights it might be on the defensive end, other nights it might be on the offensive end.
"We've got to make sure she's giving us something. She's important to the team. She's a big guard, she can rebound and she's capable of hitting some shots."
Senior guard Megan Brigman has led Scotland in scoring in just about every game this season. Brigman had another strong game on Friday with 19 points, seven boards, four steals and two assists. Senior guard Shayla McEachern scored 10 points to go with six rebounds and three steals.
SHS forward Brittany Dockery had eight points and five rebounds, and reserve center Jasmin Amos — still working her way back into shape after returning recently from a major knee injury — scored a season-high seven points. Jessi Newton and Alicia Pipkin contributed four points apiece from their front-court positions.
Scotland led 26-13 at the end of one quarter, and was up 45-33 at the half. McNeil had nine points in the first quarter and 15 at the half, and Brigman had eight points. The Scots had a balanced attack in the game's first 16 minutes, with seven players scoring in the first quarter and six scoring in the second. Scotland also got to the line often, hitting 15-of-22 free throws in the first half.
The Scots kept the pedal to the floor in the second half, which is something the team failed to do in its first win over Richmond. The Scots led 63-52 through three, and outscored Richmond 18-8 in the fourth period to win by 21.
Leshay Brown led Richmond with 14 points, center April Stroman had 13 and Itienna Mclaughlin and Patrice Legrande had eight apiece for the Raiders (
"We had a good practice last night. We spent about 45 minutes last night working on taking care of the basketball, staying off the sidelines.
"They want to force you to the sideline, and we wanted to attack the middle. When we attack the middle, we're going to score, and we did a good job of, if we weren't scoring, at least getting to the foul line."
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