SWANNANOA, N.C.— Sunday afternoon, the Montreat women's basketball team traveled down the road to take on the Warren Wilson College Owls in a non-conference battle. Despite a low shooting percentage on offense, the Cavaliers battled for a 52-45 victory and improved to 5-3 on the season, winning their fourth consecutive game in the process.
The Cavs got on the board early, producing an 18-5 stretch over the initial five and a half minutes of the first quarter to jump out to a double-digit advantage over the home team. Montreat continued to press in the opening frame, pouring in 28 points and leading by 17 (28-11) after 10 minutes of action.
Montreat added to its lead with a 7-2 run at the beginning of the second quarter, building a 35-13 advantage with 4:53 remaining in the half. Warren Wilson (2-3) then closed the period on a 6-3 stretch, but the Cavs still doubled up the Owls 38-19 at the intermission.
In the second half, the Cavaliers struggled to find the bottom of the basket, producing 14 points. A 23.5 percent (16-68 FG) field goal percentage for the day hampered the Cavs, who turned to offensive rebounding and defense to offset the dry spell. Montreat grabbed a narrow edge in overall rebounding, 40-36, and snatched down 19 boards on the offensive end of the court.
The visitors' scoring consisted of three 3-pointers in the third quarter; however, WWC outscored Montreat 14-9 in the 10-minute period to trim its deficit to 14 (47-33) with 10 minutes to play. After a two-point basket by
Jessyka Leak to begin the fourth, the Cavaliers hit another rough patch from the field, enabling the Owls to go on a 12-1 run and pull within five (50-45) with just under two minutes remaining in the game.
The Cavs held on thanks to a pair of free throws by Leak, who scored a team-high 11 points, including four of Montreat's five points in the final quarter.
Mariya Williams joined Leak in double figures with 10 points, and
Vaniyah Petty led the Cavaliers in rebounds with eight, five on the offensive glass. The Cavaliers also knocked down 14 of their 17 attempts (82.4 percent) from the charity stripe.
Women's basketball returns to AAC competition with a matchup against St. Andrews University on Tuesday. Tipoff in Laurinburg, N.C. is slated for 2:00 p.m.
