BRISTOL, Tenn. – The King University women's basketball team dropped their regular season finale against Chowan University on Thursday night. The entire game was played within an eight-point spread as the Tornado couldn't complete the comeback down the stretch, falling 57-52.
THE BASICS
FINAL: Chowan 57, King 52
LOCATION: Student Center Complex; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 13-12, 12-10 Conference Carolinas; Chowan 17-9, 17-7 Conference Carolinas
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Period
- King held Chowan scoreless for the first eight minutes of the contest, but the Tornado offense was held down as well.
- Layups from Caroline Harville and Brianna Dunbar as well as a free throw from Trinity Lee and layup from Madison Worley gave King a 7-0 lead.
- Jhayda McKinney beat the first quarter buzzer, giving King a 9-5 lead going to the second period.
Second Period
- Desiree Bates gave King an 11-5 lead early in the quarter before the Hawks scored six straight to even the score.
- Dunbar then followed with a triple to give the lead back to King.
- Chowan went on an 8-0 run before a McKinney triple pulled King back within 21-19 midway through the second period.
- The Hawks outscored King 5-1 over the second half of the period to hold a 26-20 lead at the break.
Third Period
- The Tornado deficit grew to eight points on three occasions before King started to work their way back.
- Following Lee steal, Bates made a layup and Lee followed later with a triple.
- Consecutive layups from Alexa Gramann and Ryleigh Fritz gave King the lead. Fritz converted the three-point play, giving King the 34-32 lead following the 10-0 run.
- The teams then traded baskets until Chowan held a 39-38 lead going to the fourth quarter.
Fourth Period
- The Tornado scored four straight points to take a 42-21 lead following a pair of Lee free throws.
- A Lee three-point play then evened the score at 45 as the teams began to trade baskets.
- Chowan stretched their lead to 51-47 with 2:32 remaining, but Dunbar brought the Tornado back within 51-50 with a three-point play with 54 seconds remaining.
- Chowan then iced the 57-52 win at the free throw line.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Dunbar led with 12 points while Lee followed with nine points and five rebounds.
- Bates added eight points and Harville chipped in with seven points.
- Fritz grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and added five points.
FOR THE FOES
- Destiny Robinson led Chowan with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
- Monique Jones added 12 points and nine rebounds.
UP NEXT
- King will be the sixth seed in the Conference Carolinas Women's Basketball Championship and will host first and second round games on Sunday and Monday.
- On Sunday, 10th-seed North Greenville University will face seventh-seed Francis Marion University at 6:00 p.m.
- King will take on the winner on Monday at 7:00 p.m. in the Student Center Complex.
- Chowan is the fourth-seed and has a bye into the quarterfinals on March 4 at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium in Spartanburg, S.C.
