Lady Bucs Rout Riderettes, 89-66
By Rori Eddie

Memphis, TN--Consciously or unconsciously, the Christian Brothers University women’s basketball team decided it was tired of losing. In response, the Lady Buccaneers turned in their best offensive performance of the entire Gulf South Conference schedule, routing the visiting Southern Arkansas University Riderettes, 89-66.

The victory snaps a six-game CBU losing streak, while also marking the Lady Buc’s largest margin of victory with a 23-point differential over SAU.

Offensively, the Lady Bucs placed four players in double figures, while draining a collective 35-of-57 attempts from the floor for the contest. The numbers equaled a clip of 61.4 percent from the floor, while owning a 58.3 shooting percentage from three-point land. The hot shooting would extend to the charity stripe, as well, as CBU bottomed 12-of-20 tries from the line.

A first-half offensive explosion from the tandem of Mary Buford and Sarah Condra carried the Lady Bucs to a comfortable 45-28 advantage at the break. Buford and Condra accounted for 26 of the first-half points on a combined 11-of-16 outing from the field.

Aided by 23 CBU personal fouls and a 75 percent performance from the free throw line, the Riderettes would cut the deficit to as little as 15 in the second half, but a dismal 33.3 field-goal percentage upended any SAU chance of a comeback.

After bottoming a blistering 6-of-9 attempts from three-point territory, Condra ended with a game-high 24 points. Buford followed up with 19 points, as the senior forward connected on 8-of-10 tries from the low block, while mopping up a team-high eight boards. Paint partner, Amonica Wiggins, shot a perfect 4-of-4 down low to collect a 10-point, five-rebound night. Freshman Rubenia Finley added 15 points before exiting the game with five fouls.

In front of a hometown crowd, Cole Jones (Memphis, TN) paced her SAU squad with 20 points, including four treys. Mesha McClodden added 11 points off the bench for the Riderettes.

The win moves CBU to a 10-13 overall stand on the year, while improving to 3-10 in GSC competition. Southern Arkansas drops to 9-12 for the 2001-2002 campaign with a 4-8 conference mark.

The Lady Buccaneers will return to the home hardwood, Thursday, February 14th, against GSC rival, Harding University. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 PM.