Spring Hill College led by as many as eight points in the first quarter, but the Badgers were unable to sustain that momentum and Alabama-Huntsville rolled to a 75-53 win Monday night in a non-conference game at the Arthur R. Outlaw Recreation Center.
Coming off a close win over rival Mobile on Saturday, Spring Hill came out firing against the Chargers. The Badgers opened up a 15-7 advantage in the first six-plus minutes of the game behind seven points from
Elise Reilly and another five from
Tiffany Valentine.
Alabama-Huntsville (4-3) - which has won its last three straight games - rallied and outscored the Badgers, 9-2, over the remainder of the quarter to close to within 17-16 after the opening 10 minutes.
A layup by Valentine with 8:19 to go in the first half gave Spring Hill a 19-18 lead, but that was the Badgers' last lead of the night, as Alabama-Huntsville scored the next 13 points to open up a 31-19 advantage with 3:50 left.
Having outscored Spring Hill, 19-6, in the second period, the Chargers took a 35-23 lead into halftime. Alabama-Huntsville later led 59-35 after three quarters and while the Badgers were able to score as many points in the fourth quarter (18) as they did in the middle two periods combined (also 18), they were unable to make a dent in the Chargers' lead and Alabama-Huntsville rolled to the win.
Mathilde Nicolas led Spring Hill with 17 points, Valentine had nine points and seven rebounds and Reilly had seven points, four rebounds and four assists in the loss. The Badgers were limited to 37.9 percent shooting (22-for-58), including only 5-for-21 (23.8 percent) on 3-pointers, and they had 16 turnovers in the setback, 11 coming in the opening 20 minutes.
Aryn Sanders and Holly Harris had 17 points apiece to lead a balanced Alabama-Huntsville offensive attack. Sanders added eight rebounds, three assists and two steals and Harris chipped in five rebounds of her own. Also reaching doble digits for the Chargers was Baylee Johnson, who had 16 points and six rebounds.
Spring Hill (4-5) is back in action Tuesday, traveling to Jackson, Miss. to take on Division I member Jackson State in an exhibition game. Tipoff for that game is set for 5:30 p.m.
The Badgers return to regular-season action Saturday, when they host Paine College in Spring Hill's Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener. Action at the Arthur R. Outlaw Recreation Center is scheduled to tip off at 2 p.m.
