BRISTOL, Tenn. – The King University women's basketball team used a run late in the first half to take a commanding lead over fifth seed North Greenville University in the opening round of the Conference Carolinas Women's Basketball Championship. The fourth-seeded Tornado then pulled away from the Crusaders in the second half to take the 81-52 victory.
THE BASICS
FINAL: No. 4 King 81, No. 5 North Greenville 52
LOCATION: Student Center Complex; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 10-6; North Greenville 8-8
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Period
- Trinity Lee and Kiki Samsel started the game with layups that forced a North Greenville timeout 1:16 into the contest.
- Samsel followed with a triple and Ali Golden made it an 11-0 lead with a jump shot four minutes into the game.
- North Greenville cut into the King lead late in the quarter, scoring the final four points, but the Tornado led 18-12 going to the second period.
Second Period
- Julie Ford extended the Tornado advantage back to 24-14 with a jump shot in the paint, but the Crusaders started to work their way back.
- North Greenville scored nine straight points to pull within 24-23, but Golden came up with a basket for the Tornado with four minutes remaining until halftime.
- Lee and Ford followed with baskets, pushing the King advantage back to seven points.
- Ryleigh Fritz pushed the King lead back to 11 points with a triple before Golden drilled a three-point basket in the final seconds to give King a 41-28 lead at the half.
- In all, King closed the final 3:41 of the second quarter on a 17-5 run.
Third Period
- King didn't waste any time extending the lead in the third quarter, scoring the first seven points to open up a 48-28 lead.
- Ford capped the run with a three-point play.
- As King did in the second quarter, they scored on the last possession, but this time it was Lee that gave King a 62-36 lead going to the final stanza.
Fourth Period
- Brianna Dunbar started the period with a three-point basket and Jada Owens gave King their largest lead of the game at 69-38 with a jump shot in the paint.
- The Tornado held the lead there to take the 81-52 victory and advance to a semifinal game on Thursday.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Golden led four scorers in double figures with 18 points.
- Ford followed with 15 points and eight rebounds.
- Dunbar added 12 points and Lee chipped in with 11 points and seven rebounds.
FOR THE FOES
- Haylee Luttrell, Savannah Hughes and Tolisha Walker all led North Greenville with nine points.
- Peace Okeke snared a game-high nine rebounds.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The Tornado shot 50.0 percent from the floor, their best shooting performance of the season.
- The last time King shot at least 50.0 percent from the floor was the 2019-20 regular season finale at North Greenville when they shot 54.0 percent.
- Ford matched her career-high with 15 points.
UP NEXT
- King travels to take on top seed Belmont Abbey College on Thursday night in a semifinal contest.
