By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media
WALESKA, Ga. – The Eagles smothered the high-flying offensive attack of Truett-McConnell on Wednesday night, resulting in a blowout win for Reinhardt over Truett-McConnell (Ga.), 75-52, inside the Brown Athletic Center.
The hometown team has now opened the year with three-straight wins – all within the Appalachian Athletic Conference – as Bethany Headrick led the way with another double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Catherine Shope also hit double figures in scoring with 13 tallies.
"I'm extremely thankful that we got win and really appreciate how hard both teams competed tonight," head coach Toby Wagoner said. "Although it was not a pretty basketball game, it was nice to see our ladies shoot the ball well from the 3-point line tonight. I love how hard this team competes… It's still November, but we must continue to work hard and improve on some details. Coach Fields has his team playing hard and competing; they are a young team that is tough matchup."
The game started slow on both sides of the floor, as neither team could find a rhythm on offense. The Bears, in particular, combined for just 18 points in the first half as the Eagles held them down from beyond the arc and didn't give up any easy baskets.
In total, Truett-McConnell shot 15-for-61 (24.6 percent) and hit just five treys in 28 attempts (17.9 percent), but came out in the third period and scored more points – 19 – than it did in the previous 20 minutes of action.
The 18-point advantage for Reinhardt at the half would continue to grow in stanza three, and even hit 24 points, before Wagoner and company would stretch the advantage to nearly 30 in the final quarter. The shots would continue to be off for the visitors and the Eagles would take their time holding the ball and making smart decisions the rest of the way to cruise to victory.
Reinhardt scored 30 points in the paint en route to 28-of-72 in total (38.9 percent) and shot nearly 50 percent from deep at 9-for-19.
Additionally, Brittany Burnett notched nine points and three rebounds. Ashton Sutton combined for 8 points, a team-high 5 assists and 3 steals.
Next on the schedule is the AAC road opener as the squad heads to North Carolina to take on Montreat at 2 p.m.
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