Game 7 – Bearden 72, J.L. Mann (SC) 48

(Game 7) Bearden 72, J.L. Mann (SC) 48

The Bearden Lady Bulldogs turned in a torrid second half to break open a tight game and beat J.L. Mann of South Carolina 72-48.

With coaches from Power 5 Conferences Big 12 (Baylor), SEC (Mississippi State) and ACC (Georgia Tech) looking on, one of the Tennessee’s top squads led only 27-24 at intermission, but a 27-11 scoring margin in the third period allowed them to widen the distance and go on to victory.

Bearden (14-1) got 27 points from Natalya Hodge with Emma Rainey scoring 12 and Aisha Patel nine. J.L. Mann, from Greenville, S.C., stayed right with the Bulldogs in the first half but was unable to keep up the pace after intermission. Jade Hailstock and Iman Richardson each scored 16 and Breah Franks scored 10. Both Richardson and Franks collected nine rebounds.

J.L. MANN (SC) (48): McKinney 2-10 0-0 4, Gilliam 1-6 0-0 2, Jade Hailstock 7-16 0-0 16, Imari Richardson 7-15 1-2 16, Carson 0-1 0-0 0, Breah Franks 5-7 0-0 10. TOTALS: 22-55 1-2 48.

BEARDEN (72): Natalya Hodge 10-24 5-5 27, Hunt 1-4 0-0 2, Murphy 3-14 0-0 8, McVeigh 2-4 0-0 4, Emma Rainey 4-6 1-1 12, Nesbit 1-1 0-0 2 Patel 3-3 1-4 9, Mills 2-4 2-2 6, Foster 1-4 0-0 2. TOTALS: 27-65 8-8 72.

3-Point Goals: JLM—3 (Hailstock 2, Richardson). BHS—10 (Rainey 3, Patel 3, Hodge 2, Murphy 2).