MARSHALL, Texas – Overcoming a rough second quarter that saw them trail by four at halftime, the East Texas Baptist University women's basketball team rallied to overtake the Belhaven University Blazers in the second half, 73-59. ETBU held Belhaven to 21 second half points including only nine points in the fourth quarter. ETBU is now 18-4 overall and 12-3 in the American Southwest Conference East Division.
Kim Childress led ETBU with a double-double collecting 20 points and 13 rebounds while
Amanda Wilson had 14 points.
Madison McCoy led with four assists on the team while
Sydney Saxton was the team leader in steals with three. Aaliyah Thornton led the way for BU with 17 points.
ETBU outshot BU 36.8%-35.3% from the field while winning the free throw battle 83.3%-82.4%. They also outrebounded BU 49-27, including a 22-7 edge in offensive rebounds, which allowed ETBU to have 20 second chance points to BU's four.
The swing of momentum, plus ETBU's resilience and ability to comeback, left head coach
Rusty Rainbolt impressed. "It was an interesting evening," said Coach Rainbolt. "Belhaven came out and they played well in the first half. We had a hard time getting stops. We have a lot of respect for them. They're a very good rebounding team. They're athletic and they got three girls that can shoot it. We knew they would play us hard. But I was proud of our girls for the way they responded in the second half. We went to a completely different defense. I think that was when the momentum of the game changed. I was proud of the kids all the way around."
Both teams started off scoring five points each as Childress (9:23) and
Katy Boren (9:04) made it 5-0 before BU answered it with five points of their own to tie it 5-5 (8:02). ETBU would answer with a 9-0 run (7:47-5:57) to lead 14-5 as Wilson (7:47), Childress (7:11, 5:57), and
Erin Meeks (6:43) guided the run. BU would end the run on free throws (5:47) before
Karley McHenry (5:39) gave ETBU a double-digit lead at 17-7. ETBU would finish the quarter by scoring six of the next eleven points from McCoy (4:03),
Fallon Hilliard (1:11), and Wilson (0:03) as the Tigers led 23-12 after one.
The second quarter would see a shift in momentum as BU would go on a 9-2 run (10:00-7:26) to trail 27-21. ETBU would soon push that to seven points as Childress knocked down a three-pointer (5:26) for a 30-23 lead. Later, ETBU found themselves ahead 32-27 with 4:22 to play. But BU would soon put together their biggest run of the game as they would make an 11-2 run for the remainder of the quarter to lead 38-34 at halftime.
BU would continue the momentum in the second half as they would score the first two buckers of the third quarter to lead by nine at 43-34 (8:57). Free throws by
Sydney Saxton cut it to 43-36 (8:35) was answered by a BU jumper to make it 45-36 (8:19). But then, ETBU would turn it around with ten straight points to lead 46-45 (4:59). Free throws by Childress (8:00) and
Mallory Stephens (6:01), a three-point play by Meeks (7:13), a layup by Saxton (7:01), and Jones (4:59) helped ETBU to the lead. BU would regain the lead at 50-48 (2:24) before ETBU would recapture the lead with a layup (1:40) and free throws by Wilson (0:13). After three quarters, ETBU led 52-50.
ETBU would carry this surge into the start of the fourth quarter by scoring eight straight points (10:00-7:36) combined between Childress and Meeks. They would then extend the lead to fifteen at 67-52 following free throws by Saxton (5:54), Childress (4:03) and a three-pointer by Boren (5:07). The Blazers could only cut the lead to as close as 71-59 with thirty-seven seconds left. But ETBU would get the final basket by
Gillian Yannazzo (0:16) to win 73-59.
ETBU will head back on the road to Pineville, La., this Saturday where they will battle with Louisiana College at 2:00 PM.
