When the game is close late, teams are helped greatly by having veterans to lead them to a victory.  The Lady Redskins don't have many veterans and that led them to a narrow defeat Tuesday night as they fell at home 60-58 to Alcoa.

The Lady Redskins did have their one senior step up late as Katie Settlemyre stole an Alcoa inbound pass and hit a layup to put her team up 57-55 with 1:15 left in the game.  After a Lady Tornado miss, Savannah Berry was fouled and hit one of her two free throws with 14 seconds to go in the game.

Nursing a three point lead, the Lady Redskins went on defense, but Kylie Russell drained a three from the top of the key.  However, Alcoa Head Coach Christy Daugherty called a timeout just before the shot was off so the game-tying three was erased.
After the timeout, Alischa Shiverdecker received the inbound pass and was fouled by Jara Gasper.  Shiverdecker hit one of two to cut the gap to two points, but she was also able to pull down the rebound and was quickly fouled by Gasper once again.

Shiverdecker missed the first this time, but hit the second to cut the gap to one at 58-57.
On the ensuing inbound attempt, Alcoa's Megan Hill swiped the pass and went to the line as she was fouled by Katie Settlemyre.  Hill hit both free throws and the young Loudon players found themselves trailing by one with 10 seconds left in the game.

After Head Coach Bryant Collins called a timeout, the inbound pass went to Savannah Berry, but she kicked it off her foot as she turned up court.  The turnover gave Alcoa possession and Russell hit one of two free throws to seal the game.

"I think our youth showed," Collins said after the game.  He said he could tell in the huddle during timeouts that his players were lacking confidence.  "Our confidence in ourselves just wasn't there.  We just kind of lost our focus."
Collins said it was purely a lack of game experience.  "They've not been in situations like that before.  They didn't know what to do even though we went over it in practice and went over it during the timeout, they lost their focus."

Collins said his hope toward the end of the game was to get the ball inbounded to Berry and give her an opportunity to make a play in the open court.  "We had another timeout and we probably should have taken it," he said.
The game was tight from the beginning as Russell opened it with a deep jumpshot and then Settlemyre answered with a three from the top of the arc.

After Berry tied the game at six with 6:07 left in the first quarter, however, Alcoa took a lead it wouldn't relinquish for a while.  The Lady Redskins struggled hanging on to the basketball as the Lady Tornadoes recorded seven steals in the first quarter and got eight points off those turnovers.  They led 18-7 after the opening period.
Things began to swing Loudon's way in the second, however, as the Lady Redskins started to get some turnovers.  They recorded six steals in the quarter, but were able to get just four points off the turnovers. 

The inability to capitalize on the opportunities left the Lady Redskins trailing 30-24 at halftime.
The teams started the third trading shots, but a small run by Loudon late in the third tied the game at 40.  Berry started the run by hitting one of two free throws and then Gasper hit both of hers.  After a pair of charity tosses by Shiverdecker, Settlemyre drained a three and Gasper tied it on a layup.

Alcoa scored five of the next six points, however, to lead 45-41 after three periods.
The visiting lead eventually grew to five, but that's when the Lady Redskin comeback began.  Zoe Grimes scored three straight points on free throws and then Berry hit a layup to tie the game at 55 with 3:02 left in the contest.
Gasper missed a pair of free throws a couple minutes later, but Settlemyre's stolen inbound pass and layup gave Loudon the lead with 1:15 left in the game.

"I thought we outplayed them the whole second half," Collins said after the game.  After trailing by six at halftime, the Lady Redskins outscored Alcoa 34-30 in the second half.
Gasper led the way for the Lady Redskins with 21 points.  Settlemyre followed with 14 and Berry added 12.

Hill paced the Lady Tornadoes with 17 points, while Shiverdecker added 14 and Russell tacked on 12.

The Lady Redskins will host Kingston for homecoming Friday night.  Game time is set for 6:30 p.m.