HENDERSON, Tenn. - Freed-Hardeman freshman Rakeshia Perry was known as "Rock" during her days at Peabody High School in Trenton, Tenn.
In Monday night's 70-60 win over No. 6 Lambuth (Tenn.) University, she showed why that nickname is very appropriate.
Perry's dominance inside, particularly in the second half, helped power the Lady Lions to a big win despite the absences of Jana Cross and Kristal Edney. Thirteen of Perry's game-high 17 points came in the second half as FHU fought off a comeback by the Lady Eagles and picked up an important victory.
"[The players] haven't lost confidence even with the injuries," said FHU head coach Dale Neal, whose all-time record against Lambuth improves to 21-9. "But it is a big win and gets us back on track."
Lambuth, a team that relies heavily on the three-pointer, struggled to find its range from behind the arc in the first half. The Lady Eagles made just 3-of-17 three-pointers while FHU, which had been suffering from shooting woes of its own in recent games, shot 50 percent from the floor en route to 33-25 halftime lead.
The cold hand, however, would begin to disappear for the Lady Eagles. The three-pointers began to fall early in the second half as Lambuth would trim the FHU lead down to one point (37-36) with 15:20 on the clock. But the Lady Lions had an answer in the freshman who is still working back from injury.
With Lambuth down just two points (50-48) after a C.T. Kintchen basket with 8:18 remaining, Perry scored 11 of the Lady Lions' next 14 points as FHU extended its lead to 64-55 with 2:25 to play, and the Lady Eagles would get no closer than eight points the rest of the way.
"Having [Perry] play like that was big for us," Neal said. "We've been struggling the
last few games to produce points inside."
In addition to her 17 points, Perry also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. Four other Lady Lions scored in double figures: Meribeth Boehler (14), Tara Deatheridge (12), Hanna Parsley (12), and Whitney Johnson (11). Yolanda Johnson was the only Lambuth player to reach double figures, scoring 13 points.
FHU, ranked No. 9 in the NAIA, improves to 8-4 with the win while Lambuth suffers just its second loss of the season and falls to 8-2. The Lady Lions return to action on Saturday as they play host to Bryan (Tenn.) College at 2:00 PM.
