BREVARD, N.C. - Five Brevard College women's basketball players reached double figures in scoring as the Tornados (5-3, 3-0 USA South) remained unbeaten in USA South Conference play with an impressive 96-84 triumph over Salem College (1-7, 0-3 USAS) on Saturday afternoon at the Boshamer Gymnasium.
Brevard's offense exploded for a season-high 96 points, marking just the seventh time that the Tornados have eclipsed the 90-point mark as a team in the NCAA era and already the second time this season as BC scored 93 points in a win at Warren Wilson College on November 15 earlier this season.
Calli Wells led all Tornados with a career-high 22 points on six made field goals that included a career-best five 3-pointers with a 5-for-6 mark at the charity stripe. Makenna Parkins (17 points, 13 rebounds) and Olivia Miller (15 points, 16 rebounds) each recorded double-doubles, with Miller racking up a career-best 16 boards (eight offensive, eight defensive). Makayla Street led BC's reserve unit with a career-high 18 points and nine rebounds while also matching her season-high of four steals defensively. Lexi Shepard rounded out BC's five double-digit scorers with 10 points and a team-best six assists.
Salem's Alize Munn led all scorers with 25 points in the contest, as Tamsi Echendu (19 points) and Dionne Sampson (17 points) also reached double-figure scoring totals.
Salem proved more efficient from the field shooting 49% to BC's 41% mark. Brevard dominated the glass, 50-37, and dished out seven more assists than the Spirits. BC was able to turn 22 Salem turnovers into 18 points, score 22 second-chance points with help from 21 offense boards, and score 30 points off the bench.
Brevard led wire-to-wire in the contest and held as many as a 16-point advantage. The Tornados kicked off things with a 10-0 run in the first four minutes of the first quarter as BC held a 25-16 advantage after the first period. Parkins led all scorers with seven points after one quarter of play.
The Tornados were able to extend their lead out to a game-high 16-point margin with 5:30 left to play in the second quarter after Parkins knocked down a jumper to make the score 42-26. Salem battled back, using a late 9-0 scoring run to cut the margin down to five points, 44-39, with 1:59 remaining in the first half. Street hit a putback layup at the buzzer to give BC a 50-43 advantage heading into the halftime intermission.
Brevard outscored Salem 26-21 in the third stanza to push its lead back up to double digits, 76-64. Wells went a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the 3-point line to propel the Tornados in the third quarter.
Salem attempted a fourth-quarter comeback, cutting Brevard's lead to as low as four points, 82-78, with 4:31 left to play. The Tornados were able to score 14 of the next 20 points to pull away with the high-powered 12-point victory, 96-84.
The Tornados will return to action on Sunday with an exhibition at NCAA DI Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina at 2 p.m.
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