MOBILE, Ala. – The Spring Hill College (SHC) women's basketball team earned a 55-53 victory over the Miles College Golden Bears for their first win of the shortened 2021 season on Saturday afternoon at the Arthur R. Outlaw Recreation Center.
The Badgers led from pillar to post, grabbing an early 22-13 advantage at the end of the 1st quarter and holding a 29-22 lead at halftime. By the start of the 4th quarter, SHC maintained a 45-40 lead, but Miles whittled the deficit down to just 1 point at 51-50 with 3 minutes left to play.
Sophomore Badger guard
Lindi DeBilzan stretched the lead back out to 53-50, but Miles' Kierra Patrick drained a 3-pointer to tie the game at 53-53 with 1:28 to play. A crucial stand by the Badger defense resulted in a shot clock violation by the Bears with 38 seconds remaining that resulted in an inside layup by senior forward
Katie Krout on the other end with 13 seconds left.
More Badger pressure brought about a timeout from the Bears with 2.7 seconds showing and a final 3-point attempt from Nadia Cathey was wide, ending up in the cradling arms of SHC's sophomore forward
Tyashia Bostick as the horn sounded.
Krout scored 14 points with 13 rebounds and Bostick added 10 points for Spring Hill. Freshman forward
Mar Benito Olivan finished with 10 points and 9 rebounds as SHC shot 42.9% (21-49) from the floor and 23.1% (3-13) from 3-point distance. The Badgers hurt themselves by shooting just 52.6% (10-19) from the foul line and committing 21 turnovers to just 8 steals from Miles, leading to 17 points for the Golden Bears off turnovers.
Cathey paced the Bears with 19 points as Miles shot just 24.3% (17-70) from the field and 24% (6-25) from 3-point range. The Bears shot 76.5% (13-17) from the free throw line and lost only 13 turnovers to 4 steals by the Badgers.
Spring Hill edged out a 44-43 advantage under the boards, but were outscored 9-4 on second-chance points as Miles pulled in 18 offensive rebounds to just 7 for the home team.
The Badgers (1-4) and the Bears (5-11) will finish this four-game season series on Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Arthur R. Outlaw Recreation Center.
