Lady Pioneers Can’t Hold Off Guilford Tech

SPARTANBURG, SC- The Lady  Pioneers' four sophomores walked back into the locker room disappointed Wednesday night after their 48-78 loss to Region X's Guilford Tech, but proud of their second place finish and what team has overcome this year.

Kendra Brown, Nicole Anderson, Deondria Terrell, Rhonisha Tucker and Schatavia Gray all played a heartfelt final season at SMC to lead their team to a 6-4 region record and 12-14 overall – but they're not done yet.

They still have the region tournament ahead of them on Feb. 26 and 27. Last year's squad entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed and finished in second place.

This year, they'll have to get Brown and Anderson off the bench for the tournament. Both are currently out with injuries and neither played Wednesday night.

The Lady Pioneers could have used Brown's energy and leadership, along with Anderson's defensive rebounding, against Guilford Tech.

SMC came out scrappy and played hard against Guilford Tech's pressure defense throughout the game.

Towards the later part of the first half, the Lady Pioneers struggled to make their free throw shots, making an average of 50 percent.

The Lady Pioneers went into the half down 33-17. SMC struggled to stay in the game during the second half due to Guilford Tech's strong pressure defense.  

"Guilford Tech is a great team; we were just undermanned and their pressure defense took its toll on us towards the end of the game," said coach Melissa Nafzger.

Schatavia Gray led SMC's scoring, posting a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds; Whitley Smith followed that up with 11 points; and Deondria Terrell posted nine points.  

The Region X tournament starts Friday Feb. 26 at a location that has yet been determined.

Spartanburg Methodist College is in its 99th year of providing quality education to students in a Christian environment.  More than 90 percent of SMC graduates continue their education at other institutions of higher learning.   

For more information contact sports information director Susie Williams at (864) 587-4008.