Lady Bulldogs have tough road trip

The Lovell Lady Bulldogs struggled on the road this past weekend, going 0-2 in Pinedale and Lander.
First off, the Lady Bulldogs traveled to Pinedale on Friday to take on the Lady Wranglers and fell 68-35.
“Pinedale shot exceptionally well in their home gym,” Lady Bulldogs head coach Chris Edwards said. “They had three guards that controlled the game throughout, and as a team they shot over 60% from the field.”
Lovell knew they would have their hands full with guard Elyn Bowers, who scored her yearly average against the Lady Bulldogs of 22 points.
Pinedale outscored Lovell in every quarter, and after they took the early lead, they never looked back.
“Defensively we only had a handful of breakdowns, but they gave them confidence,” Edwards continued.
By halftime the Lady Wranglers had a commanding 40-20 advantage.
“We need to convert opportunities we get offensively,” Edwards said. “Unfortunately, our girls are just lacking confidence in their scoring capabilities, and we need to focus on that mindset this week at practice and visualizing the ball going through the net.”
The game ended with Pinedale ahead 68-35, and Edwards told the team after the game that he appreciated their effort since the majority of them had been fighting illnesses that affected their physical abilities.
Summer Teter led the way for the Lady Bulldogs, scoring 11 points in the contest and going 2-2 from the three-point line. Kenadee Rael added 10 points, five assists and three steals.
Breeah Jones had 6 points, Celeste Lindsay 4, Madison Wolvington 2, Kennadee Owens 1 and Krysta McIntosh 1.
Lander
After the Pinedale game, the team traveled to Lander to get some rest and avoid inclement weather that was heading toward South Pass.
Unfortunately, the Lady Bulldogs’ woes continued as their offense struggled to get the ball to fall into the basket and came up short, 46-33, to Lander.
“Lander was collapsing in the paint and utilized their length to distract our shot attempts,” Edwards said. “We could never get shots, to fall and break Landers momentum, so we were always on our heels.”
To the credit of the Lady Bulldogs, they got down 20-4 early in the game and were able to claw back within seven points in the second half, but they couldn’t overcome the early hole that was dug.
“Lander is a team that has proven they can beat multiple 3A West teams,” Edwards said, noting Lander also beat Powell the night before. “We will need to be more disciplined the next time we face them.”
Teter again scored 11 points and had four rebounds and three steals.
Owens and Libby Mickelson both had 7 points, while Lindsay, Becca Nichols and Rael all had 2 and Jones and Raegan May had 1 each.
Looking ahead
This week, the Lady Bulldogs have two crucial conference games that could affect regional seedings against Thermopolis and Worland.
“These two games are all that matters now,” Edwards said, “not only for seeding, but more importantly to gain our confidence back in our capabilities.”
The Lady Bulldogs only have five games left in their regular season schedule and plan to use them to prepare for the postseason.
“We have a great opportunity to perform well at Regionals and break the streak of not getting to State,” Edwards said.
The team will be celebrating Senior Night and recognizing the program’s seniors before the varsity match.
The Lady Bulldogs junior varsity will tip-off at 4 p.m. at home against Thermopolis, and varsity will follow at 5:30 p.m.
On Saturday, the teams will travel to Worland. JV matches will again start at 4 p.m. and varsity at 5:30.
No JV statistics or scores were reported from the Pinedale or Lander games by press time.