Box Score
Jackson, MS-The Belhaven women's basketball team had a solid night on both sides of the ball Thursday evening as they cruised to an 85-45 victory over Mid-Continent University in Rugg Arena. The Blazers forced 42 turnovers and got a number of second chance point opportunities thanks to 29 offensive rebounds.

Belhaven (3-1) never trailed in the game although it took them a couple of possessions to get points on the board. Sarah Carr stole the ball from Amanda Daugherty and took the ball coast to coast for a layup to put the Blazers on top 2-0. A few minutes later, Belhaven expanded the lead to double digits for the first time on a pair of free throws by Jessica Barlow and with 15:51 remaining in the first half it was a 14-4 Blazer lead.

Leading by eight at 23-15 with 5:03 left in the opening half, Belhaven took control of the game thanks to a 19-6 run which enabled the Blazers to build a 21 point lead at 42-21. Belhaven's defense was relentless with the pressure on the ball and over the course of five minutes had created seven turnovers leading to the run. The Blazers would end up scoring 50 points off of turnovers for the game. The Cougars closed the half with a pair of free throws by Lindsey Davis to get within 19 points at 42-23 as both teams headed into the locker room. However, Belhaven had clearly seized the momentum in the contest at the break.

The Blazers kept the pressure on in the second half and quickly pushed their lead to 31 with a 12-0 run to open the period making the score 54-23 with 17:23 to go in the game. By the midway point of the second half, Belhaven's advantage had expanded to 37 points when Jordin Mauk found Mallory Hammack wide open underneath the basket for an easy layup making it 66-29. Mid-Continent (0-4) fought back to cut the deficit to 31 at 66-35 on a basket by Kandi Knupp, but the Cougars would get no closer the rest of the game. Belhaven's biggest lead in the game of 40 points came with 29 seconds left in the contest on bucket by Rachenia Powell. The final seconds then ticked off the clock and the Blazers came away with the 85-45 victory.

Jessica Barlow led all scorers with a game high 18 points and Sarah Carr added 16 points to pace the Belhaven offense. Barlow also pulled down nine rebounds while Octavia Mullins had 10 rebounds including seven offensive boards to lead Belhaven in that department. Jira Williams struggled shooting the ball, but made up for it with eight assists, six steals and had two blocked shots to go along with seven points. Williams and Barlow are both averaging double figures in scoring through the first four games of the season with 14.3 and 13.3 points per game respectively.

As a team, Belhaven hit 38.8 percent of their shots from the field, 35 percent of their three point attempts, and converted 59.3 of their shots at the free throw line. The Blazers outrebounded Mid-Continent 49-35 and dished out 21 total assists. Belhaven also had a big edge in the turnover department forcing 42 Cougar miscues while committing 24 of their own.

The Cougars were led by Kandi Knupp off the bench with 16 points and Alisha Herndon who tossed in 13 points. Amanda Daugherty recorded 12 of Mid-Continent's 35 rebounds. The Blazer defense held the Cougars offense to a 34.8 percent shooting clip from the field. Mid-Continent was 0 for 7 from behind the three point line and hit 59.1 percent of their free throw opportunities.

Belhaven returns to action on Saturday when they host Pensacola Christian College in Rugg Arena. The tip-off is slated for 6:00 PM.