Alice Lloyd Lady Eagles Open 23-24 Basketball Season by Defeating Johnson University, 80-71

Knoxville, TN: On October 26^th, the Alice Lloyd College Lady Eagles under the direction of Coach John Mills, opened the 2023-24 basketball season by traveling to the Volunteer state to face the Johnson University Lady Royals. Sparked by the 1-2 punch of freshman guard Abby Maggard and senior guard Hannah Kash, the Lady Eagles led for all but 19 seconds on their way to a nice 80-71 victory.

In the opening period, ALC displayed a powerfully balanced attack as seven Lady Eagles scored. On the defensive end, the Royals were forced into 9 turnovers. This would enable the Bluegrass squad to lead 22-13 after ten minutes of action.

In the second quarter, the Pippa Passes club would receive 15 combined points from Kash and Maggard, which helped them take the stanza, 20-16. That production would help propel ALC to a 42-29 advantage at intermission.

 As the third period began, Johnson would attempt to battle back, as they put up a 20-point quarter, However, Alice Lloyd would see Maggard pump in half of her clubs 18 points. This allowed the Caney Creek club to head into the final ten minutes of play holding a 60-49 cushion.

In the final period, the Kentucky girls would see sophomore forward McKenzie Maynard drain a couple of nice hoops in the first two minutes to spark her teammates. Her jumper at 7:56 capped off a 9-3 run, and lifted Alice Lloyd to their biggest lead of the night, 69-52. However, the Lady Royals refused to go down quietly.

Over the next seven minutes, JU would drain five trifectas, while the Lady Eagle suddenly went cold. Much to the delight of the Tennessee crowd, this would fuel a huge 19-5 blitz. Suddenly, with just .35 ticks remaining, the deficit was reduced to just three, 74-71, and anything seemed possible.

In this critical juncture, Coach Mills turned to his veterans to deliver the goods, and deliver they did. First, the Royals elected to quickly foul ALC's Madison Thompson. That backfired as the seniors clutch free throws gave her club a 5-point advantage (76-71). On the very next passion, ALC's Maynard stole the ball, and quickly found junior guard Katie Jo Moore, who was fouled with .18 showing. She calmly swished both of her charity tosses for a 78-71 advantage. Finally, after the home club missed a triple, Kash snagged the carom and was swiftly wrapped up. Her two attempts were also right on the money, and set the final score 80-71 in favor of the Pippa Passes posse.

For Alice Lloyd (1-0), three players reached double figures. They were led on the night by Maggard, who was impressive in her Lady Eagle debut. The smooth guard drilled 8-11 field goals (6-8 threes) and 4-5 free throws for a game-high 26 points. She added 4 rebounds and 1 steal.

She was followed by Kash who pumped in 8-14 attempts (2-5 triples) and sank both free throws for 20 points. The fiery guard definitely left her fingerprints all over the stat sheet by grabbing 5 boards, dishing out 6 assists and even adding 1 block.

Maynard, who missed all last season with an ACL injury, was sharp in her return. The sleek forward scored 13 points while adding 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal.

In addition, Moore chipped in 5 points, distributed a game-high 7 assists, grabbed 6 caroms and nabbed 2 steals while Thompson contributed 5 points, 6 boards, and 3 demoralizing blocks.

The Caney Club finished shooting 38.5% (25-65) from the field and 35.7% (10-28) from long range. They connected on 80% from the charity line (20-25), while adding 42 rebounds, 16 assists, 6 blocks and 11 steals.

JU (0-1) was paced by guard Becka Gardner with 16 points. Her squad finished shooting 37.1% (26-70) from the field and 29.7% (11-37) from behind the arc. They shot 57.1% (8-14) at the foul line, and also added 48 rebounds, 20 assists, and 9 steals.

The Lady Eagles return to action this Saturday, October 28th, when they host the Welch College Lady Flames for a 1:00pm tipoff. That game will be followed by the ALC men's season opener with Welch at 3:00pm.