BRISTOL, Tenn. – The King University women's basketball team faced off with Conference Carolinas-leading Belmont Abbey College on Wednesday night. The Crusader defense held the Tornado offense down while their offense shot better than 50 percent, handing King a 76-50 defeat.
THE BASICS
FINAL: Belmont Abbey 76, King 50
LOCATION: Student Center Complex; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 4-14, 4-6 Conference Carolinas; Belmont Abbey 13-3, 10-0 Conference Carolinas
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Period
- Alexa Gramann tried to get the Tornado offense going with a pair of three-point plays in the opening four minutes to give King a 6-4 lead.
- However, the Belmont Abbey defense locked down the King offense over the final five minutes of the period.
- The Crusaders outscored King 9-2 to take an 18-10 lead into the second period.
Second Period
- The Crusader run continued into the second period before a Jaelyn West layup.
- West added another basket, but the Crusaders had an answer after each Tornado score.
- Belmont Abbey gradually extended their lead and held a 35-18 advantage before another West basket.
- Ricky Lesenyego converted a three-point play in the waning seconds of the period to give the Crusaders a 40-24 lead at the half.
Third Period
- Belmont Abbey opened the third period with a 9-2 run to take a 49-26 lead before a Gramann layup.
- King responded with an 8-2 spurt, cutting their deficit to 51-34 following a pair of Tori Smiley free throws.
- However, Belmont Abbey finished the period with at 59-38 lead.
Fourth Period
- The Tornado opened the period with four straight points, two from Le'Aije Ellington and two more from West to pull within 59-42.
- However, Belmont Abbey came back and scored nine of the next 11 points to extend the lead.
- From there, the Crusaders pulled away to take the contest 76-50.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- West led the Tornado with 16 points and shot 50.0 percent from the floor.
- Gramann followed with 13 points.
FOR THE FOES
- Conference Carolinas' leading scorer, Abigail Crain led Belmont Abbey with 26 points.
- Taylor Stelley followed with 14 points while Riley James chipped in with 11 points.
- Lesenyego led the way with eight rebounds.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The 16 points for West set a career-high, topping her previous best of 14.
UP NEXT
- King is in action again on Tuesday when they travel to Converse University. Tipoff from Spartanburg, S.C. is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.
- Belmont Abbey hosts North Greenville University on Saturday.
