Lain, Findley fuel Lady Hornets’ surge

A huge fourth-quarter run allowed Bryant’s girls to take charge and storm their way past Marion 64-44 at Hornet Arena on Wednesday night.

Lauren Lain finished with a team-high 19 points, and Brilynn Findley had 14 points, 5 steals and 4 rebounds for Bryant (8-3), which led from the start but needed a late surge to finally sprint away.

Lain scored eight points in the first quarter as the Lady Hornets ran out to a 16-10 lead. Bryant still held a six-point cushion, 20-14, following a free throw from Marion’s Kiera Neal with just over four minutes to go before halftime but outscored the Lady Patriots 11-1 over the rest of the quarter to take a 31-15 lead into halftime.

Marion (2-7) made just one field goal in the second period and missed its final eight shots of the quarter.

The start of the second half was just as tough for the Lady Patriots, who missed their first 10 field-goal attempts. Yet, Marion stayed reasonably close, mainly because of the eight turnovers Bryant committed in the third quarter.

The Lady Hornets managed to grab a 40-24 lead early in the fourth following a basket from Lain, who spent the third period on the bench battling foul trouble. However, five consecutive turnovers led to 10 points for Marion, which cut its gap to 40-34 with 5:45 remaining. But Findley scored on back-to-back steals to start a 16-0 run that swayed things back in Bryant’s favor.

Skylar Percy had nine points and Jayla Knight added seven points for the Lady Hornets, who shot 26 of 44 (59.1%) from the floor despite turning the ball over 22 times.

Alyse Holliman had 16 points and seven rebounds for Marion, which was 18of-59 shooting (30.5%). Taylor Little and Aaliyah Taylor each ended with 15 points.