Freshmen Makayla Liles and Sydney Floyd combined for 14 fourth-quarter points to help the Motlow Lady Bucks come back from a five-point halftime deficit and beat visiting nationally-ranked Wallace St. 60-54 Wednesday night at Copperweld Arena.
The Lady Bucks (2-2, 1-1) will continue outside conference play when they travel to Gadsden, Ala., to face Gadsden St. on Friday, Nov. 13. The Motlow women will then join the Motlow Bucks for a pair of Tennessee Community College Athletic Association (TCCAA) contests against Volunteer St. on Saturday, Nov. 14 in Gallatin.
The significance of the victory was not lost on second-year head coach Dominic Tharpe. “Wednesday night was a signature win for this program, beating the No. 24 team in the country,” he said. “The environment inside Nisbett Center with a packed crowd contributed greatly to the intensity and energy that our team played with. I was pleased with how we shared the ball on offense and with our effort on the defensive side.”
Motlow started strong Wednesday night, jumping out to a 16-10 first quarter lead as Liles had five early points and Jasmine Rhodes hit a three-pointer. MeKhaela Witherspoon had four points in the opening 10 minutes and pulled down a pair of big rebounds.
With the Lady Bucks leading 20-13, the visiting Lady Lions went on an 18-6 run to close the second quarter and went into the locker room at halftime leading 31-26. Floyd kept Motlow close with five second-quarter points, including her only three-pointer.
Aja Robertson and Rhodes combined for eight third-quarter points as Motlow, after trailing 36-28 with 6:40 to play in the quarter, went on a 14-4 run to lead 42-40 heading into the final 10 minutes, when Liles and Floyd took over.
After the two teams were tied 50-50 with 3:50 remaining on the game clock, the Lady Bucks stormed to a 59-50 advantage before holding off the visitors and securing one of the program’s most significant wins over the past five seasons.
Liles added five rebounds to her 17 points, while Floyd pulled down six boards and had two steals to go along with 11 points. Taylor Hayes scored seven, with four rebounds and three assists. Rhodes also had seven points, while Ajaycia Cotton scored five points with four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Robertson had six rebounds and scored four points, and Shakala Griffin scored three with five rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots. All stats are unofficial.
Visit the official website of Motlow Athletics at for rosters, schedules, stats and more. Interact with Motlow Athletics at <Facebook/MotlowSports> and <Twitter@MotlowSports>.
