BRISTOL, Tenn. – The King University women's basketball team returned home on Saturday night and earned a tough 69-67 Conference Carolinas victory over Barton College. The Tornado gained the lead early and had to fight off a late Bulldog run to move to 3-0 on conference play.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 69, Barton 67
LOCATION: Student Center Complex; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 5-2, 3-0 Conference Carolinas; Barton 3-4, 1-2 Conference Carolinas

HOW IT HAPPENED

• As they did the entire contest, King and Barton went back-and-forth in the early going and the Tornado held a slim 13-11 lead when an Arnelle Collins triple and jump shot started a King run.
• The Tornado scored nine of 11 points to open up their largest lead of the first quarter at 22-13.
• Whitney Mitchell made a pair of free throws with four seconds remaining to give King a 24-17 after the first quarter.
• Mitchell then opened the second quarter with a triple, extending the Tornado advantage to 27-17.
• However, the Bulldogs scored six straight points to pull within 32-28, but Ashley Albertson ignited another King run with a triple.
• This time King scored 10 straight points to take their largest lead of the contest at 42-28 following an Amy Van Deventer fastbreak layup.
• Barton scored the final seven points of the first half, but King still held a 42-35 advantage at halftime.
• The Tornado opened the second half on an 11-4 run, stretching their lead back to 14 points at 53-39 midway through the third stanza. Mitchell scored the first seven points on the spurt and accounted for nine points on the run.
• However, Barton answered with a 10-0 run, cutting their deficit to 53-49 before Mitchell ned the run with a bucket.
• Sheena Johnson followed with a fastbreak layup, giving King a 57-49 lead after three quarters.
• The Bulldogs scored the first four points of the fourth quarter, cutting their deficit in half, before the teams started to trade buckets.
• The Tornado advantage stayed between three and five points the remainder of the contest.
• Kianna Wynn cut the King lead to 68-67 with a layup with 40 seconds remaining, but Johnson made a free throw on the other end, giving King a 69-67 lead with 16 seconds remaining.
• Barton had one last shot as they took a three-point attempt. Albertson was able to corral the rebound, giving King the 69-67 victory.
• Mitchell led four King scorers with 21 points and added four assists.
• Albertson scored 13 points to go along with five rounds while Collins scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds.
• Johnson was the final scorer in double figures with 11 points.

FOR THE FOES

• Wynn led Barton with 19 points and 14 rebounds.
• Caila Carter scored 12 points and JerBria Smith tallied 10 points and seven rebounds.
• Ciera Willams dished out a game-high six assists.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• This marks the second time in as many seasons that the Tornado have won their first three Conference Carolinas contest. The Tornado started 9-0 a season ago.
• Mitchell has scored at least 20 points in each of the last two games, marking the first time in her career she has had back-to-back 20-point games.

UP NEXT

• King returns to the court in the Student Center Complex on Wednesday when they host UVa-Wise at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday is also community night, all fans will receive FREE admission to the contest.
• Barton travels to take on UNC Greensboro on Monday night.