Huntingdon Pulls Away Late From Brevard in Friday Night USA South Battle

Huntingdon Pulls Away Late From Brevard in Friday Night USA South Battle

Joseph Marvin: Assistant Sports Information Director

BREVARD, N.C. – The Brevard College Tornados Women's Basketball team (9-12, 5-9 USAS) dropped a hard-fought contest against one of the top USA South women's basketball squads in Huntingdon College (17-4, 10-3 USAS) by a final score of 65-55 on Friday night at the Boshamer Gymnasium.

For the third-straight contest, junior guard Ty'She Washington led Brevard in scoring. Washington had the hot hand for the Tornados, posting a game-high 17 points on an efficient 7-of-11 from the field, making 2-of-4 from beyond the arc. Washington added six rebounds and two steals to her team-leading effort.

Destiny Williams got going late for Brevard, scoring all of her 11 points in the second half. Williams added two steals to her efforts. Senior guard Annalee Bollinger posted 10 points, utilizing more trips to the free throw line than any other player with a 5-of-8 mark from the charity stripe.

Junior center Krysta Davis was a force for Brevard off the bench, tallying seven points and nine rebounds, four of which being offensive. Deja Riddick recorded eight rebounds, while Avery Lockwood added five boards to Brevard's total.

Huntingdon had three double-digit scorers of its own. Shaonica Thomas dropped 16 points and nine rebounds on 7-of-11 shooting. The Hawks' bench was a force to be reckoned with throughout the contest. T.I. Duncan tallied 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting, which included a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line, while Mia Hudson recorded 12 points on 5-of-6 from the field. Thomas and Hudson led a Huntingdon bench that outscored Brevard's 36-9.

The Hawks comfortably outshot the Tornados 53.1% (26-of-59) to 32.3% (20-of-62) from the field in what proved to be an off night shooting for Brevard. Free throws played a key role in deciding the contest, as Huntingdon shot 75% (12-of-16) compared to Brevard's 52.4% (11-of-21).

Neither side shot particularly well from long range, as Brevard's 19% (4-of-21) mark squeaked by Huntingdon's 11.1% (1-of-9). The Hawk's focused gameplan on paint scoring proved to be the difference in the game spread, outscoring Brevard 40-30 in the painted area.

Brevard fell despite outrebounding Huntingdon 39-30, which included a remarkable 18-2 advantage on the offensive glass. The Tornados were only able to convert those rebounds into 17 second-chance points.

The contest remained tight throughout, with six ties and six lead changes. Neither side held a double-digit lead until Huntingdon's Duncan hit a layup in the paint to give the Hawk's a game-high, 11-point lead at 62-51 with 57 seconds remaining.

Brevard got out to a hot start behind Washington, as her six-straight points gave Brevard an 8-2 lead with 5:59 left in the first quarter. The Hawks battled back, as a Kassidy Crawford free throw cut Brevard's lead to a two-point, 15-13 margin at the end of the first period. Bollinger led all scorers with seven points, while Washington added six in the first stanza.

The second quarter was another tight, back-and-forth quarter that saw Huntingdon take its first lead of the contest, 21-20 with 7:40 left in the first half as Hudson connected on a free throw. The Hawks carried a 31-28 advantage into the halftime intermission. Washington led all scorers with 11 points, while Huntingdon's Hudson had 10 points for the Hawks.

Brevard regained the lead 32-31 after a Williams' fast-break layup. However, this would prove to be the last lead that the Tornados would hold of the contest, as they were unable to pull closer than a tie to the Hawks for the rest of the way. A JaTasha Hollinger pull up jumper cut Huntingdon's lead to just one point at 43-42 with 3:01 left in the third quarter, however, this margin would be the closest Brevard would come down the stretch. The Hawks took a 49-45 advantage into the final period, as Williams led all Brevard scorers with seven third-quarter points.

The Tornados pulled within two points twice early in the fourth period, but an 8-0 Huntingdon scoring run put the contest out of reach for Brevard.

The Hawks finished off a 10-point, 65-55 road win, keeping their undefeated road streak alive. Huntingdon currently holds an 8-0 record in road contests in 2018-19. Brevard dropped a rare home game, where the Tornados are now 6-4 within the confines of the Boshamer Gymnasium.

Brevard returns to action on Saturday as they welcome Covenant College to the Bosh for a rematch of a January 23 setback to the Scots in Lookout Mountain, Ga. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m.

RECORD WATCH: Senior guard Annalee Bollinger is quickly approaching some career milestones. Bollinger has made 176 3-pointers in her illustrious three seasons as a BC Tornado, which is just five shy of tying Holli Flippo's (2008-12) mark of 181 career 3-pointers, which is the Brevard College NCAA-era career record.

Bollinger's career free throw percentage of 84.8% is second only to Katie Williams' (2012-16) 85.3% mark for the best career free throw percentage in Brevard College NCAA-era history. Bollinger's BC-career 13.2 points-per-game mark ranks fourth in BC NCAA-era history as well.

Bollinger already holds the record for single-season 3-pointers made (73, 2016-17) in BC NCAA-era history. The Hickory, N.C. native is approaching an important career milestone as well. Bollinger has scored 950 points in her collegiate career, 923 of which have come in a Brevard College Tornado uniform (27 points scored in 2015-16 at former NCAA DII member-institution St Joseph's).

Bollinger needs 50 points over the Tornados' remaining contests to reach 1,000 points over the span of her four-year collegiate career. 77 points will put her in the BC 1,000-point club, which only Madison Lenox (1,697 points, 2013-17) and Anna Schlobohm (1,119 points, 2008-12) occupy as players who tallied 1,000-plus points in a Tornado uniform in the BC NCAA-era.

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