BRISTOL, Tenn. –
Tori Smiley had a career-high 25 points Saturday afternoon as the King University women's basketball team battled back from a fourth-quarter deficit to earn a Conference Carolinas win over the University of Mount Olive.
THE BASICS
FINAL: King 81, Mount Olive 76
LOCATION: Student Center Complex; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 3-9, 3-2 Conference Carolinas; Mount Olive 6-6, 3-2 Conference Carolinas
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Period
- Mount Olive was tough on the offensive glass early as the Trojans scored the first four points of the game on the opening possession.
- King worked their way back and used six straight points, four from Alexa Gramann to take a 10-6 lead four minutes into the contest.
- The teams then traded 4-0 runs as a Smiley layup gave King a 14-10 lead.
- Mount Olive again came back to even the score before a Jaelyn West triple.
- The Trojans scored the final points of the quarter, but King led 17-16.
Second Period
- The teams traded points in the early going until the Trojans scored six straight points to take a 26-22 before Jhayda McKinney connected from long range.
- King later took a 28-26 lead behind free throws from Smiley and West before five straight Trojan points.
- Gramann scored the final points of the half for King, pulling the Tornado within 33-30 at halftime.
- King outrebounded the Trojans 31-19 in the opening half, including 17 offensive rebounds.
- The Tornado scored 15 points off of those offensive rebounds while Mount Olive scored 10 second chance points.
Third Period
- The Tornado and Trojans traded buckets coming out of halftime, with Mount Olive eventually building a 43-34 advantage.
- After both teams made free throws, Smiley hit back-to-back layups to bring King to within 45-40.
- The Trojans built an eight-point lead thanks to free throws, but Gramann hit a layup, which Smiley followed up with a layup a short time later, making it 53-48 Mount Olive.
- Mount Olive closed the quarter on a 6-3 run to take a 59-51 lead.
Fourth Period
- After the teams both hit a pair of free throws in the opening minutes, Rikkelle Miller drilled a deep three, cutting the UMO lead to 61-56.
- King continued to close the gap, as West hit a jumper with 6:21 to play to bring King to within three, before Gramann made a layup, cutting it to a 63-62 lead.
- The Tornado took a 66-65 lead with 4:27 to play on an Allen layup, but the Trojans scored right away to re-take the lead.
- The lead would continue to be traded back-and-forth until West hit a jumper with 58 seconds to play, which gave King a 76-75 lead.
- King would go 4-of-5 from the free throw line in the closing minutes to take an 81-76 victory.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Smiley set a career-high with 24 points, while also posting career-highs in free throws (14-of-16) and rebounds (4).
- Gramann finished with 18 points and eight rebounds, while West chipped in 11 and had seven rebounds.
FOR THE FOES
- Laila Anderson led the Trojans, scoring 24 points, A total of five Trojans had double-figures, with Haileigh Crews scoring 16, Laila Harris adding 12 and Makayla Kimble and Reagan Hune both scoring 10.
UP NEXT
- King closes out their 2022 schedule on Monday at Carson-Newman University. Tipoff from Jefferson City is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
- Mount Olive hosts No. 7/15 Lenoir-Rhyne University on Monday afternoon.
