By Dustin Semore
FHU Sports Information Director
Freed-Hardeman University’s Lady Lions dished out 22 assists in Saturday’s Mid-South Conference clash with Shawnee State (Ohio) University to the Bears’ six. The helpers vaulted the FHU shooters to an 82-74 victory at home.
Neither Freed-Hardeman (5-0, 2-0 MSC) nor their opponents could keep a good grip on the ball, combining for three turnovers before the scoreboard lit up. Finally breaking through was Shawnee State who quickly opened up a four-point lead. A pair of 3-pointers from Madisyn Baugher and Rees Berkey swapped the lead to give Freed-Hardeman the lead they would maintain until the end of the opening frame, 14-13.
The Shawnee State Bears (3-4, 0-2 MSC) began feeding the ball into the paint, where their forwards thrived, scoring 30 points from inside the lines. On the other end of the court, the Lady Lions continued to bucket the long ball with three straight buckets to push FHU to a 22-19 lead. The Bears, however, continued feeding the inside, scoring six unanswered points to send the Lady Lions to the locker room trailing 34-31.
Beginning the second half proved to be a difficult start for the Lady Lions, who quickly fell behind by seven. Raegan Purvine would hit a triple at the 6:22 mark, quickly followed in succession by a layup from Baugher, another 3-pointer from Purvine, and a triple from Rachel Satterly to stun the Bears by taking a 49-47 lead at 4:17. The Lady Lions currently rank fifth in the nation with a 41.3% mark from long range, and that showed with 44 of FHU’s 82 points coming from beyond the arc.
Leading by one point going into the final frame, the Lady Lions knew their shooting needed to be coupled with stout defense. FHU began pulling down the defensive rebounds midway through the fourth quarter, going on a 10-point unanswered streak. The girls in maroon and white would then make 12 out of 14 attempted free throws at the end of the game to sound the buzzer for the 82-74 victory.
Rachel Satterly again led FHU’s offense by going 6-for-8 from long range en route to a 23-point night – her third straight 20-plus point performance. Madisyn Baugher bucketed a career-high 21 points by going 7-for-10 from the floor. Raegan Purvine had a career night as well, scoring a personal-high 14 points while leading her team with six assists – also a personal record.
