BELMONT, N.C. – The King University women's basketball faced off against Belmont Abbey College on Saturday afternoon. Kori West had 15 points, followed by Whitney Mitchell with 14 to lead the Tornado to a 77-72 victory.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 77, Belmont Abbey 72
LOCATION: Wheeler Center; Belmont, N.C.
RECORDS: King 15-5, 12-2 Conference Carolinas; Belmont Abbey 9-10, 7-7 Conference Carolinas

HOW IT HAPPENED

• An 8-2 run right out of the gates had the Tornado offense going behind two three pointers from Jalan Harper and Mitchell.
• A triple from the Crusaders with 7:04 left in the first quarter closed the gap to 13-10.
• Four straight points from Ashley Albertson including two free throws and a jump shot extended King's lead to 20-16 with 3:01 in the first quarter.
• Belmont Abbey closed the gap heading into the second quarter, even taking the lead 23-22.
• King once again took the lead 26-25 behind layup's from Mitchell and West with 8:11 to go in the half.
• The Crusaders came back to knot the game at 29-29 with 6:10 remaining in the second quarter with a triple.
• Another four straight points from Albertson made the score 38-34 King leading with 1:04 to go in the quarter.
• The Tornado used this momentum to take a 40-36 lead heading into halftime.
• Another lead change occurred when Belmont Abbey took the lead 43-42 with another three-pointer with 7:24 to go in the third quarter.
• King's largest deficient occurred when the Crusaders hit back-to-back triples to extend the lead to 50-44.
• The Tornado responded, tying the game at 50-50 behind Harper's four point stretch with 3:28 remaining in the third quarter.
• King then reeled off five points in a row to take the lead 55-50, behind a Sydney Harris three-pointer.
• After having a 57-52 lead heading into the fourth quarter, King further extended the lead when West made a layup for the largest lead of the game at 11 for the Tornado, 67-56 with 4:55 to go in the contest.
• Belmont Abbey closed the gap to four with 1:09 to go in the game, 73-69 but King held on to victory behind clutch free throws from Harris and Whitney to take the game 77-72.
• King made 16-17 free throws, for a 94.1 percentage and scored 21 points off of Belmont Abbey's 16 turnovers in a game with eight lead changes.
• Mitchell had a game high 15 points, followed by West with 14.
• Albertson had a solid nine points with eight rebounds.

FOR THE FOES

• For the Crusaders, Chrystal Ezechukwu had a game high 18 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double.
• Alexius Hampton followed with 15 points and five boards.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• West's 15 points in the contest was a career high, breaking her previous high of nine which occurred on January 16th against Southern Wesleyan University.

UP NEXT

• King returns to the Student Center Complex on Wednesday to play Emmanuel College next. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 pm.
• Belmont Abbey next plays on the road Wednesday to take on Mount Olive University.