Freshman Blair Smith exceled in her 6th man role tonight as she had 15 points and 5 boards in the Lady Generals’ 61-49 win over the visiting Lady Eagles of Texas A & M – Texarkana Saturday afternoon at The Fort. Coach Billy Perkins was all smiles in his (Men’s game) halftime Interview when we asked him about Smith, “She doesn’t know how good she is going to be”.
In a back-and-forth affair in the 1st Period both teams used the start as a feeling out period. At times the Lady Generals seemed to be favoring weary legs in their fifth game in the last 8 days. After a 13-13 tie in the first, LSUA would settle in with defense and unselfish play to build 6 point lead at the break. The Lady Generals held TAMU to under 30% shooting from the field while forcing 17 turnovers in the game. This defense allowed to build double digit leads into the 3rd period that they would hold onto and cruise to an 11-2 mark in RRAC play. LSUA sits at 14-4 overall.
Once again, it was an amazing team effort as Freshman Jewel Jones added 13 points and 4 assists while Junior Benedetta Peracchi poured in 11 points and finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 9 boards. We feel it is no coincidence that these three ladies were a big part of our halftime interview segment on Thursday night in the Men’s game and then they went on to perform well the very next game… just saying…. Amani Gray also had a big afternoon on the boards with 8 rebounds while adding 7 points.
The Generals spoiled a tremendous night from TAMU’s Kayla Williams who had 23 points and 12 Rebounds. Next up for the Lady Generals is a trip to Hobbs, NM to take on the University of Southwest on Feb 1st.
***Inside the numbers – Bench Points LSUA 16 TAMU 0, Points in the Paint LSUA 26 TAMU 10, ***Fast Starts Jewel Jones has (7) Three pointers in the last 2 games. All in both first halves.
