PEMBROKE, N.C. – Saturday afternoon's contest for the King University women's basketball team at UNC Pembroke was a tale of two halves. The Tornado only made one triple in the opening 20 minutes and trailed by 11 points at halftime. However, in the second half, King went 10-for-13 from long range to erase a 16-point deficit and take the 80-76 come-from-behind victory.
THE BASICS
FINAL: King 80, UNC Pembroke 76
LOCATION: English E. Jones Center; Pembroke, N.C.
RECORDS: King 5-2, 4-1 Conference Carolinas; UNC Pembroke 5-3, 4-1 Conference Carolinas
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Period
- The first half was a half of runs for each team. Brianna Dunbar gave King a 7-5 lead early in the opening stanza with a three-point basket.
- However, the Braves answered with a 9-1 run, including six straight to take a 14-8 advantage.
- Dunbar and Ashley Allen came up with baskets before a pair of Trinity Lee free throws knotted the contest at 14 with two minutes remaining in the period.
- A Ryleigh Fritz layup capped the 8-0 Tornado spurt and gave King a 16-14 lead.
- The Braves scored the final basket of the period, evening the tally at 16.
Second Period
- UNC Pembroke carried that momentum over into the second period, scoring the first 12 points to take a 28-16 lead following the 14-0 spurt.
- The Tornado deficit grew to 31-18 with three minutes remaining until halftime before King scored five straight points at the free throw line.
- King trailed again by 13, but Alexa Gramann made a layup in the final seconds, cutting the Tornado deficit to 36-25 at the half.
- In the opening 20 minutes, King shot 23.3 percent, including 5.9 percent from the field while the Braves shot 31.3 percent from the floor and 20.0 percent from three.
Third Period
- King quickly cut their deficit to 37-30 following five points from Lee in the opening minute.
- However, UNC Pembroke quickly countered with an 11-2 run that extended the King deficit to 48-32.
- The Tornado then started to chip away at the deficit as a Jhayda McKinney triple cut the Tornado deficit to 49-40.
- King pulled within seven, but the Braves followed with four straight points before Kiki Samsel knocked down a three-point basket that cut the UNC Pembroke lead to 56-48 going to the fourth quarter.
- In the period, King shot 4-for-6 from three-point range and 7-for-9 from the free throw line to chip away at the deficit.
Fourth Period
- The Tornado three-point shooting continued in the fourth period, shooting 6-for-7 from long range and 8-for-11 from the free throw line.
- Again, Lee scored the first five points of the quarter for the Tornado as she knocked down a fastbreak triple that pulled King within 56-53.
- Desiree Bates eventually evened the score at 60 with a three-point basket before a pair of Dunbar free throws gave King a 62-61 lead with 4:01 remaining.
- The lead was the first for the Tornado since 16-14 in the first period.
- The teams then traded the lead as Fritz and Lee connected on consecutive triples, giving King a 70-68 lead with 2:21 remaining.
- The Braves came back and evened the tally, but Dunbar answered with a jump shot before collecting a defensive rebound and making a fastbreak layup as she was fouled.
- She converted the three-point play in the final minute to give King a 75-70 lead, but the Braves responded with a basket.
- Lee put the game out of reach when she connected from three-point range with 22 seconds remaining to give King a 78-73 lead.
- Dunbar then made a pair of free throws in the final 10 seconds to ice the 80-76 victory.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- After shooting 1-for-17 from three-point range in the first 20 minutes, King shot 10-for-13 from beyond the arc in the second half to complete the comeback.
- The Tornado also went 25-for-32 from the free throw line for a 78.1 percent in the game.
- Lee led the Tornado, scoring a game-high 31 points on 8-for-13 shooting. She went 6-for-8 from three-point range and 9-for-10 from the charity stripe.
- Lee also led King with eight rebounds.
- Dunbar followed with 23 points, going 12-for-15 from the free throw line. She also added six rebounds.
- Gramann chipped in with nine points and seven rebounds.
FOR THE FOES
- Gabby Smith led UNC Pembroke with 29 points and eight rebounds.
- Courtney Smith chipped in with 12 points and six rebounds while Kelci Adams added 12 points, four rebounds and six assists.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The 31 points for Lee set a career-high, topping her previous best of 24 that was set on November 23 at North Greenville University.
- It is also the first time in the NCAA Division II era that a Tornado topped the 30-point plateau.
- Lee also scored her 1,000th career point in the contest, becoming the third player in the NCAA Division II era to eclipse that mark.
- Dunbar set a pair of career-highs with 23 points and six rebounds. Her previous best of 19 points came on Tuesday at Lees-McRae College and her previous high of five rebounds came on November 20 at Converse University.
UP NEXT
- The Tornado travel to High Point University for an exhibition game against the NCAA Division I foe on Thursday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
- UNC Pembroke hosts St. Augustine's University on Sunday afternoon.
