ROCKINGHAM — The Lady Scots team that took the floor on Tuesday against Richmond looked completely different than the team Lumberton blew out last week.
The offense was making good passes and finding the basket, the defense was swarming and forcing turnovers — it looked like the Lady Scots had finally turned the corner and might end their four-game losing streak.
The Lady Scots jumped out to a 9-1 lead over the Lady Raiders before a steal and a basket had Richmond right back in the game. Richmond managed to cut the Lady Scots lead to three, 11-8 before Lady Scots head coach Mallarie Snow called a timeout to refocus her group.
The teams exchanged baskets until the end of the quarter, which saw the Lady Scots holding on to a one-point lead, 15-14. Richmond tied the game with a trip to the free-throw line from Jordyn Horne. The Lady Raiders junior split her free-throws to tie the game at 15. A quick basket and another trip to the line saw Richmond take their first lead of the game, 19-15.
Richmond maintained their lead through the break, but not the momentum. A block from the Lady Scots Khasiya Sellers led to teammate Amaya Pegues hitting a fade away three at the buzzer to pull her team within five of the Lady Raiders, 29-24.
Halftime was the worst thing that could have happened to the Lady Scots.
After the break, the Lady Scots couldn’t find their groove. They were making sloppy passes, missing shots and turning the ball over every other possession — a complete 180 from the team that had started the game.
The Lady Scots didn’t score a basket in the third quarter, all six of their points came from the free-throw line. By the end of the third quarter, the Lady Scots found themselves in a 17-point hole down 47-30 with eight minutes left to make up a lot of ground.
Sellers started off the fourth quarter with a block for her team and Pegues hit another three to inject a little bit of life back into the Lady Scots. Sellers fouled out on the next Richmond possession, which hurt the Lady Scots down low. Baskets from Asjah Swindell and Pegues to cut the Lady Raiders lead to 13.
Snow called a timeout and laid into her team, in an effort to light a fire under her players.
“You’re making them look good because you’re not doing nothing,” said Snow in the huddle.
The speech seemed to fall on deaf ears as the Lady Scots continued to let Richmond built on their lead. When it was all said and done, the Lady Scots found themselves on the losing end of their fifth-straight game, 62-44.
With the loss, the Lady Scots move to 6-9 overall and 0-4 in SEC play. Richmond improves to 8-6 and 2-3 in SEC play.
The Lady Scots have six conference games left before the SEC tournament, the first being on Friday in Pembroke against Purnell Swett (1-13, 0-4). Tip off will be at 6 p.m.
Amber Hatten can be reached at 910-506-3170.
