COVINGTON – It has been a season of adversity for the Covington Lady Buccs, but the effort given has led to huge strides from week to week.
This was evident Saturday in Covington’s 58-36 victory over Troy Christian, the same team the Lady Buccs defeated earlier in the year by four points, 41-37.
“A great team effort at both ends of the floor,” said Covington coach Shawn Naff. “We barely beat Troy Christian earlier in the year, so it’s pretty cool to see how far the girls have come.”
What made the win even more impressive was the fact that Covington played without one of its leading players, junior Gracie Anderson, who is a three-year starter. The Lady Buccs were also without Gabrielle Hartwig, who has been a key contributor off of the bench.
But the Lady Buccs were able to rally together for a fast start in building a 23-10 lead at the end of the first thanks to nine points score by Maggie Anderson, seven by Carlie Besecker and seven by freshman Avery Koffer.
Covington pushed its lead to 34-17 at the break thanks to a great defensive performance.
Troy Christian continued to battle to start the second half, but Covington was able to outscore the Eagles 14-13 in the frame to take a 48-31 lead heading into the fourth. With the game well in hand, Covington closed out the contest by outscoring Troy Christian 10-6 the rest of the way.
Carlie Besecker led the way in scoring with a game-high 19 points, while Maggie Anderson had 17 points and Avery Koffer scored 12.
Covington improves its overall record to 9-6 and 6-2 in the TRC. The Lady Buccs travel to Bethel next Thursday in another critical league contest.
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
Troy Christian – 10 – 7 – 13 – 6 = 36
Covington – 23 – 11 – 14 – 10 = 58
COVINGTON SCORING:
Carlie Besecker – 19
Maggie Anderson – 17
Avery Koffer – 12
Erika Gostomsky – 12
Delaney Murphy – 3
Meg Rogers – 2
TROY CHRISTIAN SCORING:
Riley Orange – 10
Brooklyn Lady – 6
Karis Miller – 6
Kathleen Johnson – 6
Reign Wilkins – 4
Jocey Hill – 2
Hope Carroll – 2
THREE-POINT SCORING:
Covington – Avery Koffer (1), Delaney Murphy (1), Maggie Anderson (1)
Troy Christian – Riley Orange (2)
