The cold shooting that has plagued the Brownwood Lady Lions recently continued for the third straight contest Tuesday night at Warren Gym as the Christoval Lady Cougars were able to walk away with a 45-36 non-district victory.
The Lady Lions (7-4), who have suffered three straight losses after winning seven of their first eight games, converted just 21 percent (11 of 53) of their field goals, including 13 percent (3 of 23) of their three-pointers, and did not sink a shot from the floor for the initial 9:21 of the contest – well into the second period.
“I told the girls I can’t knock your effort, you played hard, but you have to put the ball in the hoop,” said Lady Lions head coach Heather Hohertz. “We were 3 for 23 from the three-point line and only made eight two-point field goals. You’re not going to win a lot of games shooting like that. Offense will get you energized on defense and that hurt us tonight. We were off a step and couldn’t feed off our offense because we couldn’t make a shot.”
Brownwood trailed 12-6 after one quarter with all its points coming on free throws, as the Lady Lions drained a season-best 84 percent (11 of 13) attempts at the charity stripe. The first bucket sparked a 14-1 surge for Brownwood, which seized a 21-17 advantage with 2:20 left in the first half. But the Lady Lions did not score again before halftime as Christoval (7-5) regained a 22-21 edge at the break and never trailed again.
The Lady Cougars scored the first five points of the second half to a cap a 10-0 run which resulted in a 27-21 Christoval advantage before Brownwood snapped a 5:43 scoring drought with 4:37 left in the third period.
The Lady Lions got as close at 27-26 with 3:22 left in the third when Jade Morin scored following an offensive rebound, but Christoval carried a 30-28 edge into the fourth period and tallied the first four points there to stretch the lead to six.
“We have to find a way to score,” Hohertz said. “Our defense is going to have to lead to some better offense when we struggle, but we didn’t do that. We got steals but they didn’t lead to anything in transition. We’re not bad shooters, they show it every day in practice, but they have to find a way, find some confidence and see the ball go through the hoop. We have to be consistent offensively and be ready to catch and shoot.”
Icess Hall led Brownwood with 10 points followed by eight from Hannah Deen, six each from Jade Morin and Trinity Roberts, and three points apiece from Lanie Johnson and Inylah Hall.
Christoval received 14 points each from Halle Hughes and Madyson George.
The Lady Lions are back in action at the Lorena tournament Thursday through Saturday, as Brownwood faces Belton at 10:30 a.m. Thursday and Kennedale at noon Friday in pool play competition.