Dec. 15, 2008

Story courtesy of Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) Sports Information Office 

HENDERSON, Tenn. - Records, they say, are meant to be broken.

On Saturday afternoon, one fell and another was tied as the Freed-Hardeman Lady Lions blew out visiting Bryan (Tenn.) College, 92-48.

Tara Deatheridge scored a career-high 28 points, including a school-record nine three-pointers, six of which came in the first half as FHU built a 51-20 lead at the break.  The previous record of eight three-pointers in a game was shared by Sandy Burns, Melody Saxon, and former Lady Lion assistant Heather Walling, who accomplished it twice.

The Lady Lion offense was amazingly efficient in the first half as the team shot 60.6 percent (20-of-33) from the floor and 9-of-13 from three-point range.  They also forced 12 turnovers while turning it over only two times and had 15 assists, eight of which came from Chelsie Alsup.  Alsup finished the game with 11 assists, tying the school record held by Jessica Woodard and Kara Sanders.

FHU blew the game open early with runs of 12-0 and 13-0 to take a 40-18 lead with 6:37 left in the half.  Both runs featured consecutive three-pointers on three straight possessions, with Deatheridge making two in each of the runs.

In addition to Deatheridge's game-high 28 points, Meribeth Boehler added 18 and Whitney Johnson scored 10 to go along with six assists.  Alsup added 12 and also tallied a career-high six steals.  Bryan was led by Amber Smith's 12 points.

FHU improves to 9-4 on the season while Bryan falls to 5-8.  The Lady Lions will head to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., to play in the Cruzin Classic on Dec. 16 and 17.  They open against Milligan College at 4:00 PM.