DANVILLE, Ky. - The Vikings began the Centre Classic with a close loss against the Asbury University Eagles, the final score 55-53.
The Vikings secured the tip to get things started, but they couldn't find the basket at the end of their first possession. On the other end, the Eagles had the same luck, missing their first shot, but they ended up with the first points of the contest, crashing the glass and forcing the issue to get themselves going with an opportunity at the line.
Elly Callihan knotted the scoreboard for Berry after finding some space in the paint following a sweet dime from
Lauren Ellard.
Berry went on a 6-0 run to build the lead to five, but that was as large as their lead got in the first quarter. Neither team was able to create much separation in the first quarter. Berry remained on top as the quarter came to a close, holding on to a three-point lead going into a break.
Berry got the ball first to begin the second quarter but turned it over to the Eagles. Asbury, in transition with a chance to tie, started their quarter by air mailing a three. With Asbury failing to capitalize,
Ava Travis got Berry off to a good start, nailing a jumper to extend the lead to five.
Asbury wasn't deterred by their result on the first possession, getting the ball back to another spot along the perimeter and draining a three to keep the game close. The perimeter proved fruitful for the Eagles as they started to get hot, making two straight threes to take the lead, forcing Berry to call a timeout to see if that could freeze them out.
The Eagles didn't lose a step during the break. They got a layup after the timeout, stretching their lead to four.
Alana Azeta found her spot in the paint and slowed the Eagles run with a layup. Berry couldn't tie it up as the quarter came to a close. They found themselves down by four at the end of the half, the score 26-22.
Now fighting an uphill battle,
Emma Hempker got the half going for Berry, forcing herself to the line and making both to cut into the deficit. Berry eventually took a one-point lead after Callihan found a lane to the basket and made a layup.
The Vikings were getting hot on offense, but despite having the momentum, the Eagles never fell too far back. They managed to put together a comeback to take the lead with around three minutes left. After building their lead to five once again,
Alana Azeta found a spot in the paint and brought the Vikings a little closer. The Eagles matched her bucket with a three on the other end and brought their advantage up to a game high of six.
When it looked like it was about to get bad for the Vikings, Berry's defense turned the intensity up to high. They made life hell for the Eagles and kept the ball on their half of the floor for a full minute, not even allowing Asbury to put the ball on the floor to spark an unyielding 9-0 run. The Vikings ended the quarter back on top, battling to earn a four-point advantage.
With the momentum in their favor, the Vikings kept their streak going.
Emma Hempker once again got things started for the Vikings, draining a jumper to extend the lead to six. As unrelenting as the Vikings' effort felt, Asbury wasn't completely out of it yet, battling back to knot it up with 7 minutes left after getting out on the fast break.
The Vikings mostly maintained their advantage as the quarter continued, and with less than five minutes to go, the Eagles were fighting to keep themselves within striking distance, going bucket for bucket with the Vikings.
With around three minutes to go, the Eagles turned the ball over on a travel, and
Briaiah Lewis went to work in the post, giving the Vikings a two-possession advantage. The distance was short-lived as the Eagles got to the free-throw line after fighting on the offensive glass, earning a point to make it a one possession game with two minutes on the clock.
After a few seconds ticked off the clock, the Eagles had a chance to tie the game after jumping on the Vikings' inbound pass and getting an opportunity for one more at the line.
They failed to tie it up though, and
Elly Callihan brought it down to the other end and took it through the lane to bring the lead back up to three. The Eagles immediately matched it on the other end, bringing the deficit back down to a single bucket with a minute to go.
Asbury managed to force a travel to give themselves the ball back. After a break called for by the Vikings, the Eagles had possession. They managed to work it to a body on the perimeter with a chance to swing the pendulum in their favor, but they missed everything, and
Emma Hempker collected it.
With less than a minute on the clock, the game seemed all but over, and the Vikings tried to milk as much time as they could. However, the Vikings couldn't add to their advantage as the shot clock sounded, and the Eagles brought it up the floor with almost a full shot clock to go.
As the clock wound down, they cleared the inside area. Asbury drove the lane and kicked it back out. Not settling for the perimeter, the Eagles drove again and with two seconds on the game clock, the Eagles took the lead and managed to draw an opportunity for one more at the free throw line. The Eagles couldn't extend their lead at the line, and the Vikings called a timeout with two seconds left.
Leaving the timeout with two seconds on the clock, the Vikings tried to get the ball into the hands of Elly Callihan for a last-second bucket, but the Eagles beat her to it and deflected the inbound play. They had another shot at the line, but with 0.3 seconds left, those points were just icing on the cake. The Eagles escaped with the win, the final score 55-53.
The Vikings look to recover as they remain in Danville to take on the host of the Centre Classic, the Centre College Colonels, tomorrow, Saturday, November 22, at 2:00 p.m.
