ROCKINGHAM — The Lady Raider basketball team lost its Sandhills Athletic Conference game against Scotland High School on Tuesday.
Despite holding an early lead, Richmond struggled to find the basket in the later quarters, falling by a final score of 48-34.
Head coach Teddy Moseley said the end result was due to a lack of scoring from the free throw line.
“We went 1-for-13 from the free throw line in the first half,” Moseley said. “We just have to get better.”
The Lady Raiders managed to take an 8-5 lead after the first quarter, using four points each from junior guard Keyoni Nichols and junior center Makailah Jackson.
Jackson, who finished with six points, opened the game with a putback and Nichols’ first basket was a close-range shot that made it 4-2.
In the closing 1:34 of the first, Nichols hit a jumper for two more of her team-high 10 points and Jackson hit the glass for a field goal.
An old-fashioned three-point play from Nichols to start the second quarter extended Richmond’s lead to four points, 11-7, its largest lead of the game.
But a three-pointer from Madysan Hammonds started an 11-2 run for the Lady Scots (8-7, 5-0 SAC), shifting the momentum for good. Adding to that run for Scotland was Morgan Thompson, who scored six of her game-high 25 points.
Netting the Lady Raiders’ two points in that span was senior forward Nyla Stroman, the first of her seven points in the game.
Trailing 18-13 with 1:43 to go before the break, senior guard C’Nedra Hinson hit a three-pointer from the right wing. A free throw from Nichols and a bucket by junior forward C’Niya Hinson made it a 26-19 deficit at the break.
The Lady Raiders outscored Scotland 10-9 in the third quarter, using five points from Stroman. She connected on a shot under the basket and added a triple from the left side.
Jackson and Nichols both capped their scoring with two points each, and freshman guard J’Nasia Neal added a free throw.
Richmond’s offense struggled in the fourth quarter, finding the basket for just five points in the closing eight minutes. Sophomore Quanna Bostic had four of those points, scoring on a three-pointer and a free throw.
Rounding out Richmond’s point total was another free throw from Neal. Scotland used a 13-5 run in the period to hand Richmond its second straight conference loss.
Nyasia McQueen added nine points in the win for Scotland, and both Hammonds and Alicia McClain had six points each.
With the loss, the Lady Raiders (6-10, 3-3 SAC) will look to regain their footing in the standings when they begin the second round of conference play on Friday.
Hoping for the season sweep against Southern Lee High School (4-10, 1-4 SAC), Richmond will host the Lady Cavaliers at 6 p.m.
