MONTREAT, N.C.— Playing host to the Columbia College Koalas inside McAlister Gymnasium on Wednesday, the Montreat women's basketball team grabbed its fourth consecutive win, taking the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) contest by a score of 72-61. With the victory, the Cavaliers improved to 11-7 overall and 8-4 in the AAC during the 2023-24 season.
Columbia (9-9, 6-7 AAC) scored the first three points of the competition; however, the Cavs answered with 10 straight in a quarter of runs. Following a 9-4 response from the visitors that saw the Koalas lead 14-12, Montreat clawed back once more, this time with another 10 consecutive points to go up 22-14 through the initial frame as
Rymiah Sanders led the team with seven points.
The Cavaliers continued to expand their advantage in the second period with outstanding play on both ends of the court. After CC tallied the first four points of the frame, Montreat utilized a 13-0 stretch with scoring from five different players, holding Columbia off the scoreboard for 5:41 of game time to balloon the gap to 17 (35-18) in the process. The home side kept the Koalas to just 1-of-11 shooting on their final 11 attempts from the field as the Cavaliers went into the break up 38-24.
Sanders led the team with nine points, while
Virginia Edmondson added eight. Sanders and
Vaniyah Petty each grabbed four boards, and
Aebri Graham and
Cierra Lail each picked up three assists. Montreat knocked down 50.0 percent of its shot attempts (15-30 FG) compared to Columbia's mere 22.2 percent performance (6-27 FG). The Cavaliers outscored the Koalas 16-4 in the paint and 12 -2 off turnovers through 20 minutes.
Montreat poured in the points in the third quarter, steadily growing its lead thanks to a 21-point effort in the frame. Six Cavs contributed to scoring as Sanders capped off her 15-point day with the final of her six points, while
Madison Cole and
Grace Rinaldo hit baskets in the paint to expand the home team's edge to 21 (57-36) with 1:56 remaining in the quarter. The Cavaliers eventually led 59-39 with one frame to play.
Edmondson's last five points of the matchup handed Montreat its largest lead of the evening as the Cavs went up 66-44 just 2:47 into the final frame. Though Columbia outscored the Cavaliers 22-13 and closed the gap to as few as nine points down the stretch, the home side held on comfortably, winning by double digits in the end.
Edmondson captained all players with 20 points, and
Katie Alexander snatched a team-high six rebounds in the triumph. Every Cavalier who saw the floor collected multiple rebounds. Graham and Lail each finished with four helpers to lead both sides.
In a battle that saw the Cavs and Koalas even across several statistical categories, shooting percentages and advantageous scoring separated the teams. Montreat ended at 46.7 percent overall (28-60 FG) and made 36.8 percent of looks from deep (7-19 3-pt FG), while Columbia hit just 30.8 percent (20) of its 65 tries overall and 28.6 percent of its 3-pointers (8-28 3-pt FG). The Cavaliers also held double-digit edges in points in the paint (36-24) and points off turnovers (20-9) despite both squads surrendering 16 possessions via turnovers.
Women's basketball aims to extend its win streak to five when the Cavaliers host the Kentucky Christian University Knights on Saturday at 2 p.m.
