Fayetteville girls even score by edging by No. 2 Bentonville
FAYETTEVILLE 45, BENTONVILLE 41
FAYETTEVILLE — Round Two goes to Fayetteville.
Claudia Bridges and Caroline Lyles combined for 35 points as Fayetteville defeated No. 2 Bentonville 45-41 on Tuesday in 6A-West Conference action at Bulldog Arena. Bridges finished with 18 points and Lyles 17 for Fayetteville, which pulled into a first-place tie with Bentonville in the conference standings.
“Claudia Bridges is fearless. Caroline is fearless,” Fayetteville Coach Vic Rimmer said. “Caroline Lyles playing defense tonight was amazing, and she had a great offensive night. Claudia will go inside and score on anybody. She made some huge plays and got the crowd going, for sure.”
Bentonville appeared to be in control in the second quarter after Maryam Dauda hit a short jumper to put the Lady Tigers ahead 21-14, but Fayetteville stormed back with a 10-2 surge to take a 24-23 halftime lead.
The Lady Bulldogs (12-6, 8-1) continued to outplay Bentonville (14-3, 8-1) in the second half, and Bridges brought the Fayetteville student section to its feet when she juked a defender and made an open three-pointer for a 41-33 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Bridges and Lyles took turns scoring against Bentonville and Dauda, its 6-6 star who was held to nine points after pouring in 35 during a 72-66 victory over Fayetteville on Jan. 15. Lyles defended Dauda most of the night, and her three-point play off a rebound inside gave Fayetteville a 32-24 lead late in the third quarter.
Bridges finished Bentonville off in the fourth quarter with a three-pointer and aggressive moves to the basket that resulted in layups.
Senior guard Ariana Saitta kept the ball alive several times for Fayetteville with rebounds and hustle plays, and sophomore Wynter Beck (six points) stole the ball from Dauda, which led to a layup by Bridges.
“Ariana is so good at offensive rebounding,” Rimmer said. “She’s a relentless kid, and her effort is something we see every day in practice.”
Bentonville led 21-14 when Lyles began a 10-2 surge with a rebound basket and finished it with a three-pointer. Bridges hit a three-pointer, and Loren Lindsey added a basket inside the lane to give Fayetteville momentum at halftime.