COLUMBIA, S.C. - CIU women's basketball hosted Bryan College (Tenn.) for their first home Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) game of the season on Saturday. The Rams have never beaten Bryan and were unable to reverse that trend. The Lions took a quick lead and held onto it for the remainder of the game to overcome CIU 87-64. The Rams are now 1-3 overall and 0-2 in AAC play.
Bryan took the first lead and going up 4-0 before Mariah Leinbach's layup cut their lead in half. Keniah Watkins added more scoring on a free throw (9-3) before Bryan went on a 14-0 run until Bethany Rymer interrupted their streak with a jump shot. Three free throws from Daja Taylor brought the score to 26-8 at the end of the first quarter. Rymer added three points in the second quarter for the Rams before Watkins added a bucket to bring the score to 33-13. CIU went on a 9-0 run to end the second quarter to trail 46-22 going into the intermission.
The Rams slowly clawed at Bryan's lead, cutting it to 25 off Aubrielle Harris' layup. The Lions went up by as much as 31 in the third quarter, but Taylor highlighted the Rams' offensive effort with ten third quarter points. Still, CIU trailed 71-40 going into the final period. CIU outscored Bryan 24-16 in the fourth, led by Leinbach's ten, but it was not enough to overcome the deficit as they fell 87-64.
Taylor led the way with a season-high 21 points; she also picked up six rebounds and three assists. Leinbach padded the stat sheet with 14 points, six rebounds, one assist, one block, and one steal. Watkins found herself in double digits with 13 points, four boards and two assists. Rymer came off the bench to post 11 points and six rebounds.
Up Next: CIU travels to Clinton, S.C., to take on Presbyterian College on Wednesday, Nov. 15, at 6:30 p.m. EST in an exhibition game.
