Eagle Offense Struggles to Score in Loss to Crown College

By Loretta Gamboe, Communication Staff

ST. BONIFACIUS, Minnesota—In their toughest game yet this season, the Eagles had a hard time coming together as a team to overcome the Storm's defense. 

In Friday night's matchup against the NCAA DIII Crown College Storm, the Eagles struggled to score for the first three quarters.  Faith scored the first bucket of the game off a steal from Lyndi Shepard and jumper from Michaela Crider, but the Storm quickly responded with four points of their own to gain a four-point lead.  The Eagles brought it back to a one-point game, 5-6, with just over three minutes left in the quarter. 

Going into the second quarter, the Eagles' Michaela Crider scored two buckets to tie the game at 9 four minutes into the second quarter.  The Storm went on a 10-0 run in the next three minutes to bring the score to 9-19.  The Eagles played the Storm evenly for the rest of the half, resulting in a 12-23 score at halftime. 

The Eagles could not match the offense of the Storm in the third quarter.  Though the Eagles' shot selection was good, the shots just didn't fall, and they had a hard time maintaining possession of the ball.  The Storm pulled away throughout the quarter, increasing their lead to nearly thirty by the end of the quarter. 

At the start of the fourth quarter, the Eagles were down 17-45.  Things started to look up for the Eagles as they began hitting their shots and keeping up with the Storm's offense, outscoring the Storm 15-12 in the fourth quarter.  Unfortunately, these efforts were not enough to overcome the deficit from the first three quarters of the game, and the Eagles fell 32-57. 

Turnovers and shooting proved to be the downfall of the Eagles.  The Storm had 28 points off turnovers to the Eagles' six.  The Eagles shot only 25% from the field with 11 of 44 shots, while the Storm shot 37.5% with 24 of 64 shots. 

Michaela Crider led the Eagles in scoring with 10 points and 4 rebounds.  Bekah Smith contributed 8 points and 7 rebounds. 

Up next, the Eagles will play the North Central University Rams in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Saturday, December 1, starting at 1 p.m.