ASHEVILLE, N.C.— Winners of six straight inside Kimmel Arena, the Montreat women's basketball team put its home winning streak to the test Saturday afternoon against the Tennessee Wesleyan University Bulldogs in an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) clash. Thanks to a strong first quarter and final few minutes, the Cavaliers came away with a 70-62 victory. Behind their seventh consecutive triumph at home, Montreat climbed to 13-6 (10-4 AAC) on the year.
Rymiah Sanders registered a triple and a three-point play to start things off for the Cavs' offense, and
Virginia Edmondson followed suit with the ensuing seven Montreat points. As a result, the hosts held a 13-7 advantage midway through the initial quarter. Tennessee Wesleyan (9-9, 7-7 AAC) cut the gap to one moments later, but
Ayanna Varela,
Grace Rinaldo and Edmondson teamed up to create the Cavaliers' largest lead of the frame, 21-12.
TWU beat the first quarter buzzer with a jumper that trimmed the deficit to 21-14. Ultimately, that basket kickstarted a 13-2 run in which the visitors suddenly seized a 25-23 edge roughly four minutes into the second period.
Maddie Ferrara and
Tresalyn Roberts kept Montreat close with the Bulldogs during the middle stages of the quarter, which allowed Sanders to pour in seven of the frame's final 11 points and reclaim the lead. With the late flurry, Sanders and the Cavs entered halftime on top by seven (37-30).
Like the second quarter, Montreat and Tennessee Wesleyan essentially played to a stalemate in third. The hosts led by as many as nine points in the period (39-30), and the visitors pulled within as few as two points (41-39). TWU managed to cut the gap to 51-45 by the third quarter's conclusion, but the Cavaliers still controlled the matchup with 10 minutes remaining.
Edmondson bookended a 10-0 spurt to start the fourth as Montreat surged forward to collect its largest lead of the night, 61-45, with merely 7:01 left in regulation; however, despite things appearing bleak, the Bulldogs never gave up. Tennessee Wesleyan outscored the Cavs by 12 points over the ensuing six minutes, slashing the hosts' edge to just 64-60 with 1:12 to go. Sanders buried a clutch 3-pointer on the following possession, though, and a trio of free throws wrapped up Montreat's 70-62 victory.
"One thing we have to continually do is play our pace," said head coach
Jamie Moore. "When we keep the game fast, that tends to keep our players on track. I think sometimes when we try to slow it down, which you kind of saw in the middle of the fourth, that doesn't always work for us. We just need to continue to keep our pace and not let our opponent determine how we play."
The hosts ended the night with better shooting percentages thanks to good shot selection and stellar defense. Montreat went 26-for-69 overall (37.7 percent), 10-for-26 from deep (38.5 percent) and 8-for-11 at the line (72.7 percent) while holding TWU to 32.8 percent overall (21-64 FG) and 20.0 percent from beyond the arc (6-30 3-pt FG). The Cavaliers notched more rebounds (46-39) and assists (15-12) as well.
Sanders (26 points) and Edmondson (25 points) teamed up for 72.9 percent of the Cavs' scoring. Edmondson also secured eight boards and three steals. Varela led all players with four steals.
Katie Alexander recorded her second double-double of the year with 10 rebounds and a game-high 10 assists.
Montreat opens a three-game road trip on Wednesday with an AAC rivalry matchup at Milligan University. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in Milligan, Tenn.
