Box Score MISENHEIMER, N.C. – Coming off a nonconference win on Friday night, the King University women's basketball team got off to a slow start on Tuesday night when they returned to Conference Carolinas play at Pfeiffer University. The Tornado pulled away in the middle of the second half, but the Falcons opened the second half on a 12-2 run, and ultimately took the narrow 56-55 victory.
Both teams started slow as they traded buckets over the first 10 minutes of the contest until King (3-2, 0-2 CC) went on run. The Tornado trailed 14-13 before Arnelle Collins sparked the offense with an old fashioned three-point play to put King ahead. Whitney Mitchell then made a pair of layups to make it a 7-0 King run that gave King a 20-14 advantage.
Alley Sprouse later started a 6-0 Tornado spurt with a layup, and Amy Van Deventer added two more layups to give King their largest lead of the contest at 28-17 with three minutes remaining in the first half. However, the Falcons (2-1, 1-1 CC) started to mount a comeback, scoring four straight points to cut into the deficit. Pfeiffer later scored five consecutive points to cut their deficit to 30-26 with one minute remaining, but Tia Keitt converted a free throw, and Collins made a layup with one second left in the frame to give King a 33-26 lead at the break.
The Tornado shot 48.3 percent in the first frame while holding Pfeiffer to a 28.6 field goal percentage en route to the lead.
However, Pfeiffer started the second half on a run, and eventually evened the score at 35-35 with 16 minutes remaining. After a pair of Keitt free throws early in the frame, the Falcons used a 10-0 spurt to take a 38-35 lead on what was a 12-2 run over the first seven minutes of the half. Keitt finally scored the first field goal of the half for King at the 12:41 mark, and completed the three-point play to even the score at 38-38.
The teams then began to trade points as Pfeiffer scored four straight only to see King answer with three points to cut their deficit to 42-41. The Falcons held a three point advantage when Collins converted a layup, and Bonnie Durrett followed with another on an assist from Mitchell to give King a 47-46 lead with six minutes left. Pfeiffer then scored four straight to regain the lead, only to see Alley Sprouse and Collins make back-to-back buckets to give the lead back to King at 51-50 with four minutes left.
Pfeiffer answered with a basket, but King had an answer with a layup by Sprouse only to see Pfeiffer make a layup on the other end to regain at 54-53 lead. Collins then made a pair of free throws to put King ahead 55-54 with 1:35 remaining. However, only 15 seconds later, the Falcons made yet another layup to gain a 56-55 advantage.
King had a pair of chances over the final minute of the contest, but they couldn't convert as the Falcons escaped with the narrow 56-55 victory.
The script was turned in the second half as the Falcons shot 41.4 percent from the field while King made 28.6 percent of their shots from the floor. For the game, the Tornado shot 38.6 percent while Pfeiffer posted a 35.1 field goal percentage.
Collins led King with 14 points and six rebounds while Sprouse added 12 points and five rebounds off the bench. Mitchell chipped in with seven points, and Keitt also pulled down six rebounds to go along with six points and two assists.
King will be in action again on Tuesday when they travel to take on Converse College. Tipoff from Spartanburg, S.C., is slated for 7:00 p.m.
