Peach's late three's and Bertolini's 16 lift Brenau over St. Andrews
Gainesville, Georgia - The Golden Tigers storm back after being down 10 points with five minutes left in the fourth quarter to get another huge win in AAC play against St. Andrews (10-16 overall, and 6-13 AAC).
The game was a defensive struggle throughout with Brenau able to cling to a 22-19 lead at the break. In the 3rd quarter Katie Moore helped led the Knights to a 38-30 led and all the momentum going into the final quarter. Moore was a dominate force again in the fourth quarter but she fouled out with 4:42 left in the game. Moore finished with 13 points and five rebounds on the night. Brenau was able to assert there will with Moore on the bench and finished the game on a 15-4 run.
Sparking the Brenau run was SG Bertolini was 16 big points and four assists on the night. With Brenau down by five with under a minute left Kristina Peach hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to two. After a St. Andrews turnover and a Brenau timeout Peach came up big again and drained a triple to give Brenau a one-point lead with 15 seconds to play. Anna Gliatta did not have her best shooting game but was able to clinch the game for Brenau stealing a St. Andrews pass with seconds left.
Kayla Stafford, added to her AAC defensive player of the year resume with another strong performance. Stafford finished with 9 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks.
Along with Moore, Londaisha Smith led the Knights with 13 points and seven rebounds in the losing effort.
When asked about the game Coach Simpson said the following. "Coming in we knew we needed this win. The girls had their minds set and they executed. When the momentum started to shift in the opposite direction; I gave the team the challenge to give me everything they had for the remaining 5 minutes of the game. Anna Gliatta and S.G Bertolini's defense set the tone with crucial steals at the end, while Kayla Stafford collected huge offensive rebounds, and Kristina Peach hitting big shots when they mattered. I'm so proud of all the girls from the top to the bottom. I hope to keep this energy rolling!"
Brenau (7-16 overall, 6-12 AAC) is right on the doorstep of qualifying for the AAC Conference tournament when they host Pikeville (KY) (15-7 overall, 14-4 AAC) on Saturday. Tip-off is at 2:00 pm eastern.