BRUNSWICK, Ga. – Basketball has officially begun as Brewton-Parker Women's Basketball tipped off its 2023-24 season with a challenging road test at Coastal Georgia on Saturday night.

The Lady Barons (1-0) pulled away from the Mariners (0-1) in a convincing 60-45 road win in Brunswick, Georgia.

"Coastal Georgia played a great game tonight," Head Coach Steve Edwards said. "We love traveling away to open the season and playing in a tough environment."

"Tonight, we found a way to win but we were sloppy all night," Edwards mentioned. "We didn't shoot the ball well and it looked like today was our first game of the season."

"We have a long way to go, but we love our group," Edwards added. "Looking forward to next week."

How It Happened | First Quarter

After an opening three from Coastal Georgia, the Lady Barons moved into control of the score by responding with six unanswered points sparked by a jumper from Tajahnae Wiggins nearly three minutes into the contest.

Keonya Mincey knocked down a trey ball with the assist from Madison Evans to move to a 9-5 lead with 3:52 on the clock, but Coastal Georgia remained in tight proximity of the Lady Barons.

Both teams managed to close out the quarter with a pair of buckets each with Brewton-Parker closing out with a 13-9 lead after the first 10 minutes of play.

How It Happened | Second Quarter

40 seconds into the quarter, the Mariners found themselves just down by two after knocking down an early three-pointer. Brewton-Parker answered with a three from Angel McRae and four points from Samerria Bryant to lead 22-13 with 7:21 on the clock.

Coastal Georgia pieced together an 8-2 run to knock the deficit down to just three points with three minutes to play in the half before Brewton-Parker closed out the final moments by outscoring the hosts 6-4 for a 30-25 lead at the break.

How It Happened | Third Quarter

A pair of free throws from A'Aliyah Clay and a layup from Evans boosted BPC back to a nine-point advantage in the first 90 seconds of the third quarter. The Mariners scored a lay of their own with 7:49 remaining before scoring cooled down for the hosts.

Nearly three minutes later, Brewton-Parker managed to build up a 41-27 lead over Coastal Georgia capped by a three-pointer from Bryant. Both teams took nearly two minutes away from scoring before the Mariners were able to put together six points together to pull back into a single-digit deficit.

Tori Dorsey and the Lady Barons scored with 52 seconds remaining to close out the quarter with a 43-33 lead, outscoring CCGA 13-8 in the third frame.

How It Happened | Fourth Quarter

Coastal Georgia managed to cut BPC's lead down to seven points with 8:08 on the clock and that was the closest the hosts were able to go for the remainder of the contest. Back-to-back buckets from McRae moved the Lady Barons back to a double-digit edge, but the Mariners were able to pull the deficit down to eight points twice in the quarter.

Fortunately for BPC, an "and-one" play from McRae and six points from Evans in the final minute of play iced any chance of a late comeback as the Lady Barons held onto a 60-45 victory to open the season.

Inside The Statistics

• As a team, Brewton-Parker shot for 32.2% (19-of-59) from the field, 16% (4-of-25) from three, and 58.1% (18-of-31) from the foul line.
• BPC forced 28 turnovers and recorded a total of 18 steals with McRae gathering five followed by Evans and Bryant with four each.
• Brewton-Parker scored 25 points off turnovers and netted 10 second-chance points.
• Offensively, the Lady Barons were led by four players in double figures.
• Evans and McRae scored 13 points apiece followed by Bryant with 11 and Mincey with 10.
• Off the glass, CCGA beat out BPC 48-33 with McRae leading the Lady Barons with nine boards followed by the duo of Evans and Dorsey with eight each.
• With the win, Brewton-Parker continues its recent successes over Coastal Georgia, riding a five-game winning streak over the Mariners.

Next Up

• Brewton-Parker returns to play on Tuesday as the Lady Barons are set to host Bryan (Tenn.) at 5:30 p.m. ET in Gillis Gymnasium.