Lady Eagles Pull Upset, Finish 4th at Conference Tournament

The Faith Baptist Bible College women's basketball team entered the MCCC Conference Tournament as the #5 seed this past weekend. Faith opened the tournament on Thursday, February 20^th at 2:00 PM, against the 4th seeded Barclay College Bears. Faith pulled the upset, winning 63-56.

Faith started off the game going shot for shot with Barclay, only trailing by one point nine minutes into the game. At that point, Faith began to make a few more shots taking a 30-20 lead into halftime. Five and a half minutes into the second half, Faith held its biggest lead of the game at 17 points. Barclay began to battle back as they picked up the defensive intensity with full court pressure. With two and a half minutes to go, Barclay came within one point of the Lady Eagles 55-54. A basket by Ashley Pearson put Faith back up by three points. With one minute and nine seconds to go, Barclay scored again to pull within one point 57-56. Barclay fouled, but Faith was able to go six for six from the free throw line to win the game 63-56. The win showed how much the Lady Eagles have improved over the year, as they had lost to Barclay early in the year by 28 points.

Laura Garwick had 23 points and 15 rebounds. Kelsey Grider had 15 points and 15 rebounds, six blocks, and five assists. Ashley Pearson had 14 points. Hannah Nichols also had five assists.

With the win on Thursday, Faith moved on to face the #1 seed Manhattan Christian College. Faith lost the game 37-73. Manhattan dominated the first half winning the half 33-7. In the second half, Faith was able to make the game more respectable only getting outscored 40-30.

Laura Garwick recorded a double double with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Kelsey Grider had eight points and nine rebounds.

With the loss on Friday, Faith moved into the consolation third place game on Saturday, February 22^nd. Faith faced #6 seed Calvary Bible College who pulled off an upset against #3 seed Ozark College on Thursday, then lost #2 seed CCCB. Faith lost the game 40-42. Faith made a great effort in the game defensively, but one stretch in the second half were Calvary outscore Faith 10-2 was just too much for Faith to overcome.

Laura Garwick led the team with 15 points. Ashely grabbed 15 rebounds.

Faith started off the tournament as the #5 seed and finished in fourth place. That was a big step in the right direction for this young squad. Congratulations to Laura Garwick who was named to the MCCC All – Conference Second Team.  Congratulations to the Lady Eagles for the great attitudes throughout the season as they displayed great testimonies on the court. The team was awarded the sportsmanship award from the conference.