MONTREAT, N.C.— The Montreat women's basketball team took to its home floor against an official opponent for the first time in 256 days, defeating the Carolina University Bruins in a close non-conference contest, 65-62. With the win, the Cavaliers improved to 1-1 on the season.
Jessyka Leak and the Cavaliers started the contest with an efficient three-point shooting performance, knocking down five of their first seven attempts from behind the arc (three of four from Leak) to jump out to an early 15-6 lead. Leak's 11-point first quarter matched the scoring output from the entire Bruins team through 10 minutes of play, as the Cavs entered the first quarter break up 20-11.
While the three-point shooting cooled off for the Cavaliers, the team's overall shot-making did not. Montreat shot 50 percent from the field in the second quarter alone while holding Carolina to just 10 total shot attempts. A five-point advantage in the period saw the Cavaliers expand their lead to 37-23 entering the half.
After 20 minutes of game action, the Cavaliers held a statistical edge in most areas, including field goal percentage (44 percent to 33 percent), made three-pointers (six to one) and total rebounds (23 to 12). Leak led the Cavaliers in scoring at the half with 17 points, while
Caleigh Raby and
Mariya Williams added eight and seven points, respectively.
Montreat grew its lead to as large as 15 early in the third quarter, but Carolina methodically worked its way back into the contest. Ending the quarter on a 9-0 run, the Bruins held the Cavaliers to just 3-of-16 shooting from the field and forced Montreat into eight turnovers. The stalwart defensive effort brought Carolina to within five, 45-40, entering the final quarter of play.
Despite Montreat quickly jumping back out to a double-digit lead, Carolina returned to its previous quarter form and built on its momentum in a back-and-forth final quarter. Using a 16-5 run, the Bruins snagged a 58-57 advantage with only 1:20 remaining, their first lead since 6-3 early in the first quarter; however, the lead didn't last long. After a 30-second timeout, Montreat quickly found Williams for a left-post layup to put the Cavaliers back up for good. Over the final 1:17 of play, the Cavs outscored the Bruins 8-4 to claim their first win of the season in the home opener.
"It's good to get a win to open up the first home game," said head coach
Tim Lewis. "We dropped a lead that we had coming into halftime…but that's what the first couple games of the season before conference play are for, to work out those kinks."
The Cavaliers shot 38 percent on the night, 31 percent from three-point range and 65 percent at the charity stripe. Montreat out-rebounded CU over the course of 40 minutes, 39-31, and managed to commit one fewer turnover.
Williams led the Cavaliers in scoring with her 20-point performance; she also snagged eight rebounds on the night. Leak finished with a double-double, scoring 19 points and hauling in 11 rebounds. Raby also reached double-digit scoring on the night with 17 points. The trio combined for 56 of the Cavaliers' 65 points.
Destiny Lewis dished out five assists to lead Montreat in helpers.
Coach Lewis added, "I think the team responded well. We got some rebounds when we needed to, got some stops when we needed to and we hit a couple of big shots when we needed to…anytime you win, that's a good thing, and we'll just learn from it."
Montreat women's basketball returns to action on Saturday for its conference opener against Milligan University. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. in McAlister Gym.
