CENTRAL, S.C. – The King University women's basketball team dropped a tight Conference Carolinas tilt at Southern Wesleyan University on Tuesday night. The Tornado used a big second quarter to take the lead, but the Warriors came back in the fourth quarter to stun the Tornado 80-78.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Southern Wesleyan 80, King 78
LOCATION: Historic Tysinger Gymnasium; Central, S.C.
RECORDS: King 5-7, 2-3 Conference Carolinas; Southern Wesleyan 2-8, 1-3 Conference Carolinas

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Southern Wesleyan got off to a hot start, scoring 11 straight points to take a 13-4 lead midway through the opening stanza.
• The Warrior lead grew to as many as 12 before Dakota Hitchner drilled a triple and made a jump shot to cut the King deficit to 21-14 after one quarter.
• The King offense caught fire in the second quarter, going on a 9-0 run to take a 25-24 lead following a Taylor Freeman layup.
• The Tornado later went on a 7-0 run to gain a 35-29 after Jada Owens connected from long range.
• Madison Davis gave King their largest lead of the first half at 46-33 following a trifecta.
• However, the Warriors scored the final three points of the second quarter, giving King a 46-36 lead at the break.
• The Tornado used a 10-4 run early in the third quarter, opening their lead up to 58-44 following a Hitchner triple.
• Allison Littleton gave King their largest lead of the game at 60-44 with a layup.
• However, the Warrior started to chip away, closing the quarter on a 6-0 run to cut their deficit to 64-57 going to the fourth quarter.
• Keyanna Blakely and Hitchner teamed up to extend the King lead to 68-57 with the first three points of the final stanza.
• Nevertheless, the Warriors answered with a 6-0 run, cutting their deficit to 68-63.
• Southern Wesleyan eventually evened the tally at 73 with 2:32 remaining and later took a 77-76 lead following a pair of free throws.
• Ali Golden gave the lead back to King in the final minute, but the Warriors answered with a basket with 24 seconds remaining.
• The Warriors held an 80-78 lead following a free throw with four seconds left. King then went the length of the floor, but couldn't get a shot off before the buzzer as Southern Wesleyan took the contest 80-78.
• Freeman led King with 12 points, five rebounds and two assists while Cupples and Hitchner followed with 10 points each.
• Kori West added nine points and 10 rebounds.

FOR THE FOES

• Shawndre' Young led Southern Wesleyan with 18 points and Noel Van Zadelhoff followed with 17 points and nine rebounds.
• Jessica Sparks and Tatiyana Mahone added 13 points apiece with Mahone snaring seven rebounds.
• Breanna Richardson was the final Warrior in double figures with 10 points to go along with seven rebounds.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Hitchner poured in a career-high 10 points. Her previous hit was two points.
• West came within one rebound of her career-high of 11.

UP NEXT

• King stays on the road to face the University of Mount Olive at 5:30 p.m. on Friday night. The Tornado then take on Barton College at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday in Wilson, N.C.
• Southern Wesleyan hosts Limestone College on Friday night and Converse College on Saturday.