Spirited Lions’ display defeats Columbia College

By Daniel Branley
Sports Writer

The Bryan women’s basketball team comfortably defeated Columbia College Wednesday night, 81-70.

The first half was an extremely close battle as both teams attempted to take control of the game. It was a very close encounter as neither team managed to increase its advantage by more than six points. At the buzzer for the half, the Lady Lions held a slim 37-35 lead.

After halftime the Lions began to turn up the heat and opened a 13-point lead over their opponents. They managed to maintain this lead for the majority of the second half and secured a comfortable 81-70 victory over the Koalas.

The win pushes the Lady Lions’ record to 16-18 overall, and 11-4 in the AAC.

Bryan managed to shoot 38.9% from the floor, while Columbia shot 39.2%. The Lions had standout performances from freshman Megan Billingsby, who led the game with 20 points, and senior Jenna Ray, who closely followed with 18.

One major area of concern for Lions head coach Jason Smith was the high number of turnovers (19) produced by his team.

“We made a lot of turnovers in the first half which made the game difficult,” said sophomore Dasha Sharova. “We also missed some shots that we would usually make, but we came out in the second half and put in a strong performance to secure the victory.”

The Lions will play again at 1 p.m. this Saturday in a conference match at Milligan College in Elizabethton, Tenn.