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The Battle of the Bluefield's lived up to its name as Bluefield College narrowly defeated Bluefield State 64-61.

January 4, 2011

Courtesy of Bluefield Daily Telegraph

Jonathan Greene

 

BLUEFIELD, Va. — The Battle of the Bluefield's lived up to its name as Bluefield College narrowly defeated Bluefield State 64-61.

 

"It was a close game," Bluefield interim head coach Jessica Brokaw said. "It's always a 

	Megan Randall helped the Lady Rams spark a comeback to beat Bluefield State on Monday night.

 close game between to the two Bluefield's. It doesn't matter what the records are. It always come down to the wire."

 

Monday's edition at the Dome Gymnasium was no exception.

 

Both teams started out a little slow and showed some nerves.

 

"It was our first game back from Christmas," Brokaw said. "Both teams were showing jitters and excitement in front of this type of atmosphere."

 

The nerves eventually settled and an exciting ballgame began as the lead changed 10 times in the first half before the Lady Blues took control.

 

Kelli Morgan hit two free throws with 2:29 remaining to tie the game at 26 and start a run for Bluefield State.

 

Charlene Diggs scored two easy layups, Garcia Hanna scored on a drive to the bucket and Kateisha Wright added a free throw as the Blues took a 33-26 lead into half.

 

"We came out hard to play," Bluefield State head coach J.J. Oliver said. "I thought our kids came out and played well enough to win the game."

 

Bluefield State pushed the lead to 14 following steals by LaWanna Gravely and Wright.

 

"I was proud of our defense," Oliver said. "We stayed almost exclusively in a 2-3 zone. Almost every possession we had them down to four or five seconds before they shot the ball which is what we want to do. We see what happens when we play defense. We get stops."

 

The Lady Rams were not about to give up though.

 

"I told them we have to play great defense and win the rebound war," Brokaw said. "I wanted to get them going. I think they came out a little relaxed and I told them that's not who they are. They just got after in the second half."

 

Particularly, De'Arra Darling and Megan Randall who helped spark the comeback.

 

Darling went 7-of-8 from the line and Randall hit a three as Bluefield trimmed the deficit to one at 47-46 with just under 10 minutes remaining.

 

Antonia Cataldi hit a three-point to give the Lady Rams the lead a minute later.

 

Bluefield held onto the lead before Gravely hit from behind the arc to tie the game at 52 with 6:41 remaining.

 

With four and half minutes left to play, a Bluefield State steal led to a fastbreak by Diggs which turned into a three-point play after a foul and a 59-56 lead for the Lady Blues.

 

Free throws by Randall and Keyla Baltimore gave the Rams the lead back 62-61 with 1:56 to go.

 

However, Bluefield state had a chance for the win with seven seconds as Morgan went to the free throw line to shoot two.

 

"I always believe in my kids," Oliver said. "I was pretty confident she was going to make the free throws, so I took my kids off the line. That's probably a coaching mistake."

 

Morgan missed both and Diggs was called with an intentional foul to seal a Bluefield victory.

 

"I'm extremely proud of them," Brokaw said. "They played the entire 20 minutes of the second half. I love how the bounced back and fought in the second half."

 

Randall led the Lady Rams with 15 points. Cataldi nearly finished with a double-double of the bench scoring 12 points and grabbing nine boards. Baltimore chipped in with 10.

 

Diggs scored a game-high 18 points for the Blues. Gravely and Morgan each scored 10.

 

Bluefield College (4-9) will host Reinhardt Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. while Bluefield State (1-8) will travel to Seton Hill on Wednesday.

 

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