The Covenant women's basketball team continued its USA South play tonight in its loss to LaGrange, 85-46. The Panther's hot shooting proved to be too much for the visiting Scots, as they shot at an impressive 48.6 percent, making nearly half of all shot attempts (34-of-70).
LaGrange's upperclassmen put on a show as senior guard, Jahpera McEachin, led the way with 25 points. Fellow senior Nadia Montour had 17, and junior Jalaya Lewis added 15 points.
Destiny Mergilles continued her streak of solid performances for the Scots, putting up 15 points, four rebounds, and three steals.
Mary Elaine Mitchell added 11 points with three 3-pointers, and Cosette Kirsch had seven points.
Covenant struggled to score early, as LaGrange would open the contest with a 14-0 run, with 12 of those points coming from McEachin. The scoring drought was ended at the 4:59 mark by a Mergilles layup. The Scots would come within eight points with a free throw by Mitchell at the 3:39 mark, but Montour would keep the Panthers ahead, scoring a quick eight points to end the quarter.
Going into the second quarter down by 15, Covenant greatly improved offensively, shooting at 53.3 percent from the floor. The Scots stayed within reach as both teams put up 22 points during the period. Back-to-back daggers from behind the arc by Kirsch and Mitchell would cut the lead to 13 around the halfway point of the quarter. Mergilles also added seven points, ending the first half with 13, on 5-of-6 shooting.
But it was the third quarter where the Panthers would turn up the heat.
Starting the period up by 15, LaGrange began with a 9-0 run on the Scots, which was cut by another Mitchell 3-pointer at the 6:12 mark. Mitchell would hit two from downtown during the period, but it was not enough, as the Panthers outscored Covenant 21-8.
From there, it was all LaGrange, as they would top the Scots 37-13 in the second half and score a total of 31 points off of turnovers for the game.
The Panthers improve to 3-0 in conference play, while the Scots drop to 0-3.