HICKORY, N.C. – The King University women's basketball team raced out to an early lead Saturday afternoon, but were unable to pick up their first win of the season, falling to Lenoir-Rhyne 79-54.
THE BASICS
FINAL: Lenoir-Rhyne 79, King 54
LOCATION: Shuford Arena; Hickory, N.C.
RECORDS: King 0-4; Lenoir-Rhyne 4-0
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Period
- After the Bears scored the first bucket of the game, the Tornado went on an 8-0 run to take an 8-2 lead, with Brianna Dunbar and Jhayda McKinney both drilling threes.
- Lenoir-Rhyne would battle back to tie the game at 10 before taking a 12-10 advantage with 2:20 to play in the quarter.
- The Bears would close the period on a 13-2 run to go ahead 18-12 after the first 10 minutes, with Ashley Allen making a layup to account for the Tornado points.
Second Period
- Coming out of the break, it was Rikkelle Miller who jump started the Tornado, as she hit a three just 23 seconds into the quarter to bring the Tornado to within one score.
- After trading buckets for the majority of the quarter, the Tornado caught fire, as Le'Aije Ellington hit a layup to start a 9-2 King run that allowed them to pull within one point, 27-26.
- The Bears would close the half on a 6-2 run to take a 33-28 lead into the halftime intermission.
Third Period
- Lenoir-Rhyne scored the first six points of the quarter before Ashley Allen hit a layup off a pass from Jaelyn West to cut the lead to 39-30 with 7:35 to play.
- A short time later, Dunbar would drive to the bucket, make the layup and hit the ensuing free throw to bring the Tornado to within 39-33.
- The Bears would then score eight straight points to stretch the lead to 47-33 before Allen hit a jumper with 2:42 to play.
- Dunbar then hit a layup to get King to within 10, but Lenoir-Rhyne would score the final seven points of the quarter to take a 55-37 lead into the final period.
Fourth Period
- After the Bears started the quarter on a 10-0 run, Tori Smiley hit a three with 7:36 to play.
- Jordan Weir picked up an old-fashioned three-point play with 3:24 to play, hitting the layup and drawing the foul, converting the free throw to make the score 74-45.
- After hitting a pair of free throws, Weir then pulled an offensive rebound and went right back up with it, making the score 76-49.
- The teams would trade buckets over the final two minutes, with Lenoir-Rhyne winning 79-54.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Dunbar and Weir both scored 10 points, with Weir going a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line.
- West pulled six rebounds, with Allen contributing five and Weir adding four.
FOR THE FOES
- Brandi Hudson dropped 16 points for Lenoir-Rhyne, with Blaikley Crooks adding 14, Azariah Fields scoring 12 and Emily Harman scoring 10.
- Crooks also had six rebounds, with Gathers adding five.
UP NEXT
- The Tornado will start Conference Carolinas play Tuesday against Erskine. Tipoff is set for noon. Local viewers can view the game on BTES Power 7, presented by the City of Bristol, Tenn.
- Lenoir-Rhyne also opens conference play Tuesday, hosting Wingate.
