MOBILE, Ala. – The Spring Hill College (SHC) women's basketball team took a Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) West Division victory over the LeMoyne-Owen College (LOC) Magicians by the score of 60-51 on Saturday afternoon at the Arthur R. Outlaw Recreation Center.
The Magicians (7-7, 4-4 SIAC West) fell behind the Badgers 17-6 in the first 9 minutes of the game, but bounced back to claw within 21-19 2½ minutes before intermission. The final five points of the first half went the way of the Badgers as SHC carried a 26-19 cushion into halftime.
In the third quarter, LOC knotted the game at 26-26 in the first two minutes back in action. A 3-pointer by Amil Mitchell with 4:06 left in the period gave the Magicians their first lead at 33-30, but SHC answered back with a jumper and two free throws by senior guard
Daja Walker from Tuskegee to reclaim a 34-33 lead to close the third stanza.
In the final 10 minutes, senior shooting guard
Elise Reilly of Covington, La. scored all seven of her points on the night as the Badgers rallied from a 3-point deficit with 7 minutes left on the clock to outscore LOC 10-4 over the next 4 minutes. The rebounding and interior play of senior forward
Tiffany Valentine of Houston, Texas sparked the Badgers on both ends of the court.
A vital steal by Badger sophomore guard
Zareia Ector of Memphis, Tenn., with 93 seconds remaining led to a successful free throw to put SHC up 53-49. SHC completed five consecutive free throws over the game's last 36 seconds combined with defensive rebounds from junior forward
Katie Krout of Tuscaloosa and freshman point guard
Lindi DeBilzan of Lexington, Ky. to seal the contest.
Valentine finished the night with a double/double, scoring 13 points with 10 rebounds to pace the Badgers in both categories.
As a team, the Badgers shot 35.7% (20-56) overall in the game, including 14.3% (1-7) from beyond 3-point distance. SHC turned the ball over 21 times against 10 steals by the Magician defense as LOC outscored Spring Hill 21-11 in points off turnovers. The Badgers hit on 82.6% (19-23) of their free throw opportunities and dominated the boards by a 51-33 margin, resulting in a 12-8 advantage in second chance scoring.
Lamontazia Blair led the Magicians with 16 points as LOC shot just 30% (18-60) from the field and 38.5% (5-13) from 3-point range. LeMoyne-Owen scored on 71.4% (10-14) of its free throws and lost 13 turnovers to eight Badger steals.
The Badgers (5-11, 4-3 SIAC West) next host SIAC West Division leaders the Miles College Golden Bears (9-5, 5-2 SIAC West) on Monday at 5:30 p.m. in the Arthur R. Outlaw Recreation Center.
