Berea Women Survive late Comeback to Beat Huntingdon
The Berea College Lady Mountaineers held off a late fourth quarter rally to defeat the Huntingdon College Lady Hawks 81-67. The senior day festivities filled Seabury Center with energy and nostalgia as the Lady Mounties saw their seniors battle on last time at home on a Saturday. The crowd and players had an energy at tip-off that fed off of these activities and allowed Berea to jump to a 27-15 first quarter lead. The press defense forced the Lady Hawks into turnovers early and Berea did its best to capitalize.
The first half concluded with Berea leading with a sizable 18 point lead. Marley Lawson paced the home side scoring with 11 points on 5-6 shooting. Senior Zacchea Small poured in 10 points to help the Lady Mounties cruise to a 50-32 lead at the half. The Lady Hawks were helped by Juliette Harp who had 13 points on 5-10 shooting. As a team Berea shot 47.6% from the floor while holding Huntingdon to 38.2% from the floor.
The start of the second half saw the much of the same for Berea and the Lady Mounties quickly expanded the lead to 29 points. After the lead looked too large to overcome a relaxation came over the crowd and it seemed to directly influence the team. The team looked sluggish through the final part of the third and the Lady Hawks pounced on the opportunity to battle back into the game shaving the lead down to 9 points. The Lady Hawks outscored Berea in the third and fourth quarters. Juliette Harp helped lead the charge for the Lady Hawks scoring 10 points in the second half and Alex Lowery hit two large three point baskets to help the Lady Hawks get within striking distance.
But alas the comeback was futile. As the lead got to 9 the Lady Mountaineers charged up their press again to start to pull away. Senior Adriana Williams scored 11 points in the second half with some huge steals late in the game to lead the Lady Mounties to the final score of 81-67. Adriana Williams lead the way with 20 points and Zacchea Smalls finished with 15. Bri Lanham finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds for her second triple double in 4 games. The Mounties improved to 15-2 and play Peidmont at home on Sunday. Huntingdon falls to 12-8 and plays LaGrange in Wednesday.
