Baltimore, MD – After one game under their belt, the Regent University Women's Basketball team was back on the road Tuesday night for an out of conference match-up with Goucher University. This would be the first ever meeting between the Royals and Gophers, and it presented another opportunity for Regent to get their young team game experience. However, Head Coach Donte Minter had much more in mind as he was looking for his team to head back to Virginia with a win.
The first quarter saw the Royals fall behind until Freshman Kennedy Shipman (Virginia Beach, VA) put Regent in front with a three-pointer from the top of the key. Goucher answered back to take the advantage, but Junior My'Angel Carter (Toccoa, GA) grabbed a defensive rebound and took it the length of the court for the score. That was followed by a basket from fellow Junior Zipporah Johnson (Waterford, MI), a three by Freshman Amara Groth (Chesapeake, VA) and a basket from Shipman to increase the Royals' advantage and as the quarter was ending Shipman drained a three-pointer at the buzzer to keep the lead, 15-12.
The Gophers trimmed the deficit to one-point to begin the second quarter, but Regent extended it after two Shipman free throws. A few possessions later Junior C'Niya Turner (Fredericksburg, VA) found Carter under the basket for a score, however Goucher was able to eventually pull to within one-point and then a few minutes later take the lead, 20-19. Unfortunately, they would extend their advantage and at the half, the Royals trailed 22-19.
Carter started the scoring in the third quarter with two free throws, but Goucher answered with two straight baskets. However, after a three from Shipman and a short jumper by Freshman Eva Giannini (Avon, CT), Regent was able to pull even and then take the lead when Freshman Tyler Marie Henry (Virginia Beach, VA) converted a layup. The two teams traded baskets, and the score would again be tied, but the Gophers eventually grabbed a four-point lead. Shipman trimmed it to two points with a drive to the basket, but Goucher was able to go on a run and at the end of the quarter the Royals were behind 42-36.
The fourth quarter saw the Gophers extend their lead, but Shipman stopped the run with a layup and that was followed by a jumper from Giannini, forcing Goucher to call a timeout. Carter stepped up on defense with a big block which turned into a break away for the Regent offense. On the next possession, Shipman grabbed a defensive rebound and found Groth at the other end for a fast break layup, cutting the deficit to two-points at the media timeout. After getting fouled, Carter connected on one of two free throws and on the next possession Giannini grabbed a Carter block and found the basket to give the Royals their first lead of the second half. However, they were unable to hold onto it and would fall by a final score of 55-49.
Shipman finished the game with 19 points, while Carter recorded a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. In addition, as a team, Regent grabbed 48 rebounds and had 20 points in the paint.
The Royals will be back in action on Friday, November 14th when they travel to North Carolina to face Salem College. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00pm.
