MONTREAT, N.C.— Saturday afternoon, the Montreat women's basketball team welcomed the Tennessee Wesleyan University Bulldogs to town for an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) matchup. Hot shooting propelled the Cavs to an upset triumph over the Bulldogs by a score of 79-75. With the result, the Cavaliers improved to 11-10 (8-8 AAC) on the season.
 
In the opening minutes, the teams traded baskets and the lead with Montreat utilizing a pair of offensive boards and buckets from three different players to go up 6-5 midway through the quarter. The first frame featured seven lead changes and three ties as the squads battled back and forth for the upper hand. Starting 50.0 percent (7-14 FG) from the field, the Cavs powered out to a 20-14 advantage thanks to seven points from Caleigh Raby and threes off the hands of Destiny Lewis and Tatiyana Cannon.
 
Montreat held the Bulldogs to 29.4 percent from the field in the opening period, while the Cavs made nine of their 17 attempts (52.9 percent) to lead 22-19 after one.
 
After TWU trimmed its deficit down to one (24-23), Lewis splashed home her second 3-pointer of the afternoon to re-establish a four-point edge. The Cavaliers were able to keep their torrid scoring pace thanks to a 4-of-6 start from deep and impressive efficiency from the field in general by going 16-for-26.
 
Though Tennessee Wesleyan cut Montreat's lead to just two points (38-36) with 2:54 remaining in the second quarter, the Cavaliers closed the frame on a 9-0 stretch, fueled by seven points from Ja'Liah Wilson to enter halftime up 47-36.
 
Raby led all scorers with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting, while Lewis added 10 points after draining four of her seven shots. Overall, the Cavs shot an outstanding 60.6 percent (20-33 FG) from the field and went 5-for-8 (62.5 percent) from behind the arc. TWU made only 30.3 percent (10-33 FG) of its attempts and connected on 30.0 percent (3-10 FG) from beyond the arc; however, a perfect 13-of-13 showing at the free throw line kept the Bulldogs within striking distance. Montreat made both of their free throw attempts in the opening 20 minutes as well.
 
Tennessee Wesleyan (14-5, 13-4 AAC) immediately used a 4-0 run to pull within seven (47-40). After Vaniyah Petty and Jessyka Leak extended the home team's advantage back to 11, TWU cut the difference down to seven twice more prior to making it a 53-52 game with 2:48 left in the period. At that point, the Bulldogs had forced 11 Cavalier turnovers, which produced 17 points for the visitors.
 
A three by Cannon, a fastbreak layup by Leak and two free throws by Wilson built Montreat's edge back to eight (60-52) through three quarters.
 
In the fourth, Leak finished through contact to make it a double-digit competition (62-52); however, TWU forced a Cavalier timeout following a 9-0 run over 2:55 that pulled the visitors within a point with 6:02 to go in regulation. The Bulldogs inched ahead for the first time since the first quarter (63-62) with a layup, but Leak registered a pair of 3-point buckets to put her team up by five again.
 
Leak continued the Cavs' astounding shooting competition with her third 3-point make of the fourth as her team built a six-point edge (71-65) with 3:17 left, all before hitting a vital three with 21 seconds left and then icing the contest with a free throw make in the final seconds. Leak, who connected on nine of 12 attempts, including a 4-of-6 showing from three, scored 15 of her 23 points in the last quarter and polished off a double-double with 10 rebounds as she captained all players in both points and rebounds.
 
When Montreat missed down the stretch, offensive boards helped propel the home team to additional baskets. The Cavaliers ended with eight offensive rebounds en route to out-rebounding the Bulldogs 38-31. On the defensive end, the Cavs got stops when they needed to as the squad was able to hold off Tennessee Wesleyan's comeback attempt to win by four (79-75)     .
 
Raby concluded the afternoon with 14 points, while Lewis notched 11, grabbed nine rebounds and registered five helpers. Cannon tallied a career-best nine points, while Wilson also recorded a career-high nine points and six boards.
 
The Cavaliers, who dominated field goal shooting categories on the afternoon, drained 52.5 percent (31-59 FG) of their overall attempts in the competition, while TWU struggled in the game (32.3 percent; 20-62 FG). Montreat connected on half of their 22 3-point tries, and the Bulldogs went 5-of-20 from deep (25.0 percent). One of the main reasons the visitors remained in the matchup until the final buzzer was their 30-for-30 performance at the charity stripe. The Cavs made six of their nine shots (66.7 percent) at the line.
 
Women's basketball now heads to Point University for a contest on Monday. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.