PRESCOTT, Ariz. — Truett McConnell University’s women’s basketball team, from Cleveland just down the road from Helen, Ga., ran into a hot start and never recovered Friday, losing 78-42 to Embry-Riddle on the road in Arizona.
The Eagles were up 23-12 after one quarter and pushed the margin to 42-21 at the break. From there the Bears, who represent the private Baptist college in White County, could not close the gap.
Ball security was the biggest problem. Embry-Riddle forced 22 turnovers and came away with 17 steals, and Truett McConnell finished at 29.4 percent from the floor. The hosts also won the rebounding battle 52-29 and scored 34 points in the paint.
Scoring was spread around for the home side. Morgan Mann had 11 points, while three teammates matched one another with 12 apiece: Riley Morris-Rexford, Bella Barrett and Makenzie Alapai. Alapai added nine boards. Embry-Riddle never trailed and built its biggest cushion, 36 points, in the final period.
The result left Embry-Riddle at 2-2 on the season, while the Bears will look to clean up their ball handling before their next outing.
Truett McConnell competes in the NAIA, and its teams have played in the Appalachian Athletic Conference since the 2013-14 school year. The Georgia Baptist Convention established the school in Cleveland in 1946, and it opened its doors in September 1947 with 55 students.
The long trip west came early in the nonconference schedule, well before league play opens for the Bears and their fans in the North Georgia mountains, where the campus sits in White County.
