TENNERTON – There was little to like for Buckhannon-Upshur head coach Rob Kittle after his Lady Bucs battled the Musselman Appleman Saturday afternoon in non-conference action.
The Lady Bucs dropped a 53-48 decision in a game where they committed 40 turnovers, shot just 37.2 percent (16-for-43), were outrebounded by a 52-38 margin and witnessed a seven-point third quarter lead turn into a five-point loss.
It was also a game, which was delayed by over an hour due to a late arriving Musselman team, that got bogged down by fouls as there were 43 called, 24 on Buckhannon-Upshur and 19 by Musselman.
It wasn’t that Musselman was much better than the Lady Bucs in the contest as they shot 26.9 percent (17-for-63) and turned the ball over 30 times.
The Lady Bucs were down 8-5 early but Casadie Lahman put on a lay-up and Alyssa Abel scored from underneath to give B-U a 9-8 lead.
Brooklyn Smith canned an outside jumper to give the Lady Bucs a 14-13 advantage heading into the second quarter.
A three-pointer by Smith gave B-U a 21-17 advantage with 2:25 left in the second quarter and the Lady Bucs ended the half on a 5-0 run behind a baseline trey from Harley Dean and an 18-footer from Kyndal Davis for a 26-21 lead at the intermission.
Lahman scored on a putback to begin the third-quarter giving the Lady Bucs their biggest lead of the game, at seven, at 28-21.
A pair of free throws by Abel kept B-U ahead by three, at 32-29, but Musselman went on a 10-0 run over the next two minutes for a 39-32 advantage and the Lady Bucs would never get the lead back again.
Rosie Shackleford made a pair of free throws to bring the Lady Bucs to within two, at 42-40, at the end of the third quarter.
The Lady Bucs couldn’t get any closer than those two points in the fourth quarter as they managed just two field goals, a baseline jumper from Davis and a three-pointer from Smith.
Musselman improved to 6-2 on the season.
They were led by Neveah Thompson and her 14 points and Jasmine Morris and her 13 points and 14 rebounds.
The Lady Bucs didn’t get a player in double digits as Gabby Parke paced the offense with nine points.
The loss dropped Buckhannon-Upshur to 1-3 overall.
They will be back in action Tuesday at Elkins for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.
The boxscore:
Musselman 13 8 21 11 – 53
Buckhannon-Upshur 14 12 14 8 – 48
Musselman 53
Nevaeh Thompson 5-12 3-7 14; Jasmine Morris 5-23 3-6 13; Ciara Puller 1-4 9-12 11; Sarah Price 2-7 3-4 7; Kaylee Deluca 1-2 0-0 2; Jada Gunn 1-3 0-0 2; Emily Stevens 1-6 0-0 2; Larkin Walker 1-6 0-0 2; Keleigh Chrisman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-63 18-29 53.
Buckhannon-Upshur 48
Gabby Parke 4-11 0-0 9; Alyssa Abel 2-5 4-5 8; Brooklyn Smith 3-5 0-0 8; Casadie Lahman 3-8 0-0 7; Kyndal Davis 3-5 0-0 6; Harley Dean 1-4 1-4 4; Hodge’Nay Henderson 0-4 4-6 4; Rosie Shackleford 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 16-43 11-17 48.
Three-point field goals – Musselman: Thompson 1-3; Morris 0-3; Stevens 0-2; Gunn 0-1; Price 0-1; Puller 0-1; Totals 1-11; Buckhannon-Upshur: Smith 2-3; Parke 1-5; Lahman 1-5; Dean 1-2; Henderson 0-2; Davis 0-1 Totals 5-18
Rebounds – Musselman: Morris 14; Puller 9; Price 8; team 8; Thompson 7; deadball 4; Gunn 1; Walker 1. Totals 52; Buckhannon-Upshur: team 6; Davis 6; Lahman 6; Abel 5; Smith 4; Dean 3; Shackleford 3; deadball 3; Henderson 1; Parke 1. Totals 38.
Assists – Musselman: Puller 4; Deluca 2; Morris 2; Stevens 2; Gunn 1. Totals 11; Buckhannon-Upshur: Lahman 3; Smith 3; Davis 2; Abel 2; Parke 2; Henderson 1. Totals 13.
Steals – Musselman: Puller 9; Morris 6; Price 6; Thompson 4; Gunn 1; Walker 1. Totals 27; Buckhannon-Upshur: Lahman 8; Abel 5; Smith 4; Henderson 2; Davis 1; Dean 1; Parke 1; Shackleford 1. Totals 23.
Blocked shots – Musselman: Deluca 1. Morris 1; Price 1. Totals 3; Buckhannon-Upshur: Abel 1; Dean 1; Lahman 1; Parke 1. Totals 4.
Turnovers – Musselman:30; Buckhannon-Upshur: 40.
Personal fouls – Musselman: 19; Buckhannon-Upshur: 24.
