Box Score The Spring Hill College (SHC) women's basketball team began the 2016-17 season with a thrilling 55-54 non-conference home victory over the University of West Alabama (UWA) Tigers at the Arthur R. Outlaw Recreation Center on Friday night.
 
The Tigers (0-1) jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead, but Badger freshman guard Elise Reilly from Covington, La., answered the call with two consecutive three-pointers to stake SHC to an 8-6 lead just 3 minutes into the game. UWA would regroup to take as much as a 7-point lead at 29-22 with 5:05 on the 2^nd quarter clock, but Reilly once again drained a trey and junior guard Johnta Hughes completed a free throw to drag the Badgers back within 29-26 just seconds later.
 
Hughes would later tie the game at 33-33 with 25 seconds left on the 2^nd quarter clock as the teams took the deadlock into the intermission.
 
Coming out of the locker rooms, SHC took control of the 3^rd quarter as senior center Leah Washington began to find space under the basket and the Badger guards consistently found her for easy interior layups. The combination of Washington on the inside and Reilly on the outside proved deadly for the Tigers after the freshman guard drained another three ball to end the quarter and hand SHC a 52-43 cushion heading into the final 10 minutes.
 
UWA refused to go away quietly and began to whittle away at the Badger lead over the final five minutes of play. A 3-point bucket by Catherine Taylor at 2:52 was followed by a driving Ariel Wilson layup at 2:15 to make the score suddenly just 55-54 in favor of the home Badgers.
 
Both teams then clamped down on defense, resulting in several steals and missed shots over the next two minutes, but UWA found themselves with possession of the ball and seven seconds remaining. Wilson attempted another layup from the right side, but Washington and fellow senior Camry Johnson smothered the shot with three seconds showing and Johnson secured the win with a steal of the Tiger inbounds play with two seconds on the clock.
 
Reilly led all scorers in her collegiate debut with 19 points and five 3-pointers while Washington added 14 points with nine rebounds. As a team, SHC shot 38.2% (21-55) from the field including 35.3% (6-17) from long distance. SHC squeaked out a 31-30 advantage in rebounding and made 70% (7-10) of their free throws. The Badgers committed 16 turnovers against nine steals by UWA, but forced the Tigers into 25 turnovers off 10 Badger steals.

Following the game, SHC head coach Karen McConico was cautious in her praise for her team. "It was good to open the year with a win over a very good opponent," she said. "But this was a typical opening night game where we played great at times and awful at times. I'm proud of our players finding a way to win, but we have to get more consistent in our play."

UWA was paced by Kierra Groce with 13 points, Chloe Culppeper with 12 points and Wilson added 10 points. The Tigers shot 46.7% (21-45) from the field and 33.3% (2-6) from behind the arc while draining 83.3% (10-12) of their trips to the charity stripe.

Spring Hill (1-0) will next visit Baton Rouge, La., to face NCAA Division I opponent Southern University in an exhibition contest at 4:30 p.m.