GREENEVILLE, TENN. – Lees-McRae women's basketball, under first-year head coach
Lauren Galvani, opened the 2024-25 season with a 78-70 victory over Tusculum in the Jersey Mike's Women's Basketball Regional Challenge.
Leah Barringer had 20 points and
Nadiya Hairston joined her in double-digit scoring with 13.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Lees-McRae –
78; Tusculum – 70
LOCATION: Pioneer Arena – Greeneville, Tennessee
RECORDS: Lees-McRae (1-0/0-0), Tusculum (0-1/0-0)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Tusculum started the game with a 5-0 run after Ni'Kiah Chesterfield collected a layup with 8:51 remaining in the first quarter.
- Hairston got the Bobcats on the board with 7:15 left in the opening quarter and Lees-McRae tied the score at 11-11 with a free-throw make from Kayli Dunn. Dunn knocked down a jumper with two seconds left as the two sides were knotted at 13 points.
- Lees-McRae used a 5-0 scoring to start the second quarter and Barringer made a fastbreak layup to give the Bobcats the 20-15 lead. Tusculum used a layup from Ema Nagyova and a free throw from Zoe Sharpe to take the 31-30 lead into the halftime break.
- Hairston stopped the Pioneer scoring at the 8:58 mark of the third quarter with a triple and the Bobcats used an 11-0 scoring run to take the 44-40 advantage with 6:19 left in the third quarter.
- Kirsten Watt maintained the four-point lead for the Bobcats after connecting on a three and Lees-McRae held the 53-50 advantage after 30 minutes of play.
- Hairston pushed the Bobcat lead to seven points on another three-pointer, but Tusculum cut the deficit to three points with 1:42 in regulation.
- Thailand Smith built the lead back to five with a layup and free throws down the stretch gave Lees-McRae the 78-70 win at Tusculum.
- In her collegiate coaching debut, Galvani, a 2015 graduate of Lee-McRae, led her alma mater and earned her first victory of her collegiate career.
- Barringer paced all scorers on the evening with 20 points on 7-16 shooting and 6-6 from the charity stripe. She recorded six rebounds, one assist, and one steal in 28 minutes on the court.
- Hairston followed with 13 points and nine boards for the Bobcats. Smith contributed six points, nine rebounds, and two steals in 26 minutes off the bench.
- Watt collected nine points, two rebounds and one steal for the Bobcats and Layla Tillery joined her nine points on a perfect 9-9 from the free-throw line.
- As a team, Lees-McRae went 23-68 (33.8%) from the field and 26-37 from the free-throw line. The Bobcats forced 32 Tusculum turnovers and converted 29 points off those turnovers.
FOR THE PIONEERS:
- Danyell Booker had a team-high 16 points for Tusculum and Chesterfield joined her in double figures with 13 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.
- Tusculum shot 42.9% (27-63) from the floor and 3-19 from three-point range.
UP NEXT:
Lees-McRae women's basketball wraps up its weekend tomorrow in Greeneville, Tennessee against Catawba College, who are receiving votes in the Division II WBCA Coaches Poll, at 2 p.m.
For more information on Lees-McRae Athletics, follow the Bobcats on X (@LMCBobcats), on Facebook (Lees-McRae Athletics), and on Instagram (leesmcraeathletics).
