MONTREAT, N.C.— The Montreat women's basketball team put its win streak on the line in an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) battle at home against the Tennessee Wesleyan University Bulldogs Wednesday evening. With a 49-41 triumph, the Cavs registered their sixth consecutive victory and improved to 13-7 (10-4 AAC). The six straight triumphs mark the team's second win streak of six competitions this season.
Tennessee Wesleyan (8-8, 6-8 AAC) went 3-for-3 from the field early to hold a 6-4 advantage; however,
Cierra Lail, who scored four of the Cavaliers' initial six points, leveled the score at six midway through the first quarter. Following scoring droughts of over four minutes from both teams, a 3-pointer from
Aebri Graham handed Montreat an 11-9 edge going into the second frame.
The Cavs tallied six of the opening seven points of the second period to lead 17-10 as
Rymiah Sanders contributed four points and
Vaniyah Petty added two to the run. Despite a 7-0 stretch from TWU that knotted the contest at 17 with 2:21 left in the half, Montreat responded with six straight to go up 23-17 at the break.
Sanders and Petty combined for 10 of the team's 12 points in the second quarter as the duo each recorded six points to lead the Cavaliers at halftime. Petty also hauled in a squad-best five rebounds in the first 20 minutes. Both sides struggled with shooting as the Cavs made just 25.7 percent (9-35 FG) of their looks, and the Bulldogs connected on 25.0 percent (7-28 FG) of their tries. A 6-0 advantage in points off turnovers gave the home side its lead thanks to seven forced turnovers, including five in the second frame alone.
The trend of defense prevailing continued into the third quarter. After Sanders made a layup one minute into the period, TWU trimmed its deficit to a single possession (25-22) with 6:47 remaining in the frame. Although the Cavs went 1-for-8 on their ensuing shots, the home side kept the Bulldogs from draining a try for the rest of the third and scoring for the final 5:40.
Virginia Edmondson capped off a 7-0 run with five points as the Cavaliers took a double-digit lead (34-24) with 10 minutes to play.
Both squads had their best offensive quarters of the matchup in the final frame, with Tennessee Wesleyan outscoring Montreat 17-15. An 11-1 stretch following TWU's first bucket of the period, propelled by four points from
Grace Rinaldo, helped the Cavs to their largest advantage of the contest (44-28) with 5:47 left in the game. Despite a run by the Bulldogs that cut the gap to single digits, the Cavaliers held on for their 8-point win.
Sanders led all players with 12 points and captained both teams with eight boards, while Edmondson joined her in double figures with 10 points. Seven Cavaliers scored at least four points, and as many grabbed at least four rebounds. Overall, Montreat shot slightly better (27.1 percent; 16-59 FG) than its counterpart (24.5 percent; 13-53 FG) and forced five more turnovers (15-10). The Bulldogs converted more 3-point tries (6-2), but the Cavs performed better at the charity stripe (71.4 percent to 64.3 percent).
Women's basketball now travels to South Carolina for an AAC matchup versus the Columbia College Koalas. Tipoff is expected at 2 p.m.
