BREVARD, N.C. – Senior forward Destiny Williams posted her second 20-point performance of her senior season to lead three Tornados in double figures as the Brevard College women's basketball team (1-5, 1-5 USAS) fell by a final of 85-60 to Piedmont College (9-3, 7-0 USAS) on Tuesday evening at the Boshamer Gymnasium.
Williams, a senior from Aiken, South Carolina, scored 20 points for the second time in her senior season, while also grabbing six rebounds and swiping a team-high four steals. Avery Lockwood poured in 13 points off the bench in a near double-double effort that saw the junior center grab nine rebounds. Shakirah Thompson added 12 points on a team-best four made 3-pointers, while Makenna Parkins tallied six points in her first collegiate game. Senior forward Deja Riddick dished out a team-high three assists – all coming in the first quarter of play.
Piedmont's high-powered offense was led by Livia Skinner and Nakiyah Washington, who each racked up 23 points on the night. Skinner drained a game-best five 3-pointers, while Washington added nine rebounds, five steals, and four assists to her ledger. Hope Franklin added 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting with seven rebounds, while Lu Woolfolk stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds.
The Tornados shot at their most efficient clip (43.4%) of the season thus far, however, the Lions used a hot shooting mark with 31-of-62 (50%) from the field to propel themselves to victory. Piedmont turned 24 Tornado turnovers into 32 points, while edging Brevard 38-30 on points-in-the-paint. The Tornados, led by Lockwood and Parkins, outscored Piedmont's bench, 23-6.
Piedmont jumped out to an early 12-2 run in what was a high-scoring first quarter before Thompson drained a trio of 3-pointers to help bring BC to within three points, 18-15, with 5:21 left in the first period. Back-to-back Lockwood buckets towards the end of the first period brought the Tornados to within four, as Piedmont took a 25-19 advantage into the second quarter.
The Lions scored the quarter's first eight points to extend their advantage to a 14-point margin at the 7:57 mark. The Tornados brought the game to within single-digits on three separate occasions in the second quarter, however, Piedmont maintained a 12 point, 43-31 lead at the halftime intermission.
Piedmont quickly extended its lead to a 20-point margin with 8:29 left in the third period before Thompson's fourth 3-pointer of the evening stopped the Lions' scoring stretch. A back-and-forth rest of the third quarter left the Lions holding a 66-48 lead with one quarter left to play.
The Lions used an 8-0 scoring run midway through the fourth period to hold their largest lead of the contest, a 27-point margin at the 2:06 mark before wrapping up their conference victory, 85-60.
Brevard is scheduled to return to action this weekend when the Tornados travel to Macon, Georgia to face Wesleyan College (2-6, 2-6 USAS) in conference action on Friday at 7 p.m. before the weekend doubleheader concludes on Saturday at 2 p.m. Live video and statistics will be made available, free-of-charge, courtesy of Wesleyan College.
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-BC-