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Lady Monarchs Fall Despite Mike's Career-High 41 Points
TaQuandra Mike Coastal Empire Monarchs
TaQuandra Mike of the Coastal Empire Lady Monarchs - photo by W.S. Moore

LUDOWICI, GA - TaQuandra "Tae Tae" Mike scored a career-high 41 points but it would not be enough as the Coastal Empire Lady Monarchs lost a heart-breaker to the Georgia Soul 109-108 in a Women's American Basketball Association game played at Faith Baptist Christian Academy in Ludowici on August 14, 2021.

 

With her team team down by two, Mike made a layup to give the Monarchs a 108-106 lead with 1:48 left but Georgia Soul answered with a 3-pointer that proved to be the game winner with 13.5 second remaining.

 

The Monarchs led 36-27 after one quarter of play and held a 67-51 advantage at intermission. The visitors from Atlanta won the second half, outscoring the home team 33-24 in the third frame and 25-17 in the final quarter.

 

Georgia  Soul started the second quarter strong as they sliced their deficit to four with 6:03 showing on the clock but the Monarchs answered as Mike scored seven points during a 16-5 run that stretched their lead to 57-42 with 3:23 left.

 

Leading by 17, a pair of free throws by Mike with 12.6 seconds left gave the Monarchs and commanding 67-48 lead.

 

In the third quarter, Georgia Soul used a 16-5 spurt to cut their deficit to 73-66 at the 5:34 mark but the Monarchs responded with a 11-4 run to get their lead back to double digits at 84-70 with 2:32 showing.

 

The Monarchs led 91-84 after three quarters.

 

The Soul scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter to take a 93-91 advantage with 8:33 remaining.

 

A basket by the Monarchs tied the game at 93 apiece but the Soul answered with seven straight points to go ahead 100-93 with 6:20 left.

 

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Mike and Pie Jackson pulled the Monarchs within 100-99 with 5:45 left.

 

The final five minutes featured three ties.

 

A 3-pointer by Mike knotted the game at 102 with 4:51 left, a layup by Jackson tied the game at 104 with 3:58 remaining and a layup by Jasmine Blevins with 2:10 showing tied the game at 106.

 

Angiee Tompkins added 21 points for the Monarchs while Jackson chipped in 14.

 

Former Baylor standout Khadijah Cave led Georgia Soul with 26 points.

 

The loss dropped the Monarchs to 2-3 overall.

 

"We played a good game" said team owner and coach Jessie Fleming. "We could not finish to get the win."

 

The Monarchs started the season with a pair of road losses. The opened the season with a 104-59 setback to the Jacksonville Force on July 27 and suffered a 86-78 loss to the Gastonia Greyhounds in week two on August 3. "We didn't have our full squad" said Fleming. "We only took five players to Jacksonville and played with four players in Gastonia."

 

The team earned back to back wins the weekend of August 7 & 8. The Wichita State connection of Mike and Tompkins led the way with Mike scoring 28 points while Tompkins added 22 in a 98-82 victory over the Tampa Bay Panthers on Aug. 7. The following day, Tompkins tossed in 23 points in a 85-66 victory over the Huntersville Lady Hornets.

 

The Monarchs will hit the road to play the Atlanta Angels on August 21 but will be back at home in the Faith Baptist Gym on August 28 when they host the Florida All Stars.

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