Box Score
Hattiesburg, MS-The Belhaven women's basketball team fought hard, but could not come away with a win in the closing seconds over William Carey University losing 65-62 on Monday night. The loss drops the Blazers record to 13-10 overall and 4-8 in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference. The Crusaders go to 13-9 overall and 9-3 in the GCAC.

William Carey took the early lead on a jumper by Corissa Tillman in the paint 16 seconds into the contest. The Crusaders held the lead until Belhaven's Octavia Mullins tied the game at 6-6 on a jumper with just under 17 minutes left in the opening period. After battling back in forth, Belhaven jumped up by four points 21-17 on a basket by Jessica Barlow with just over seven minutes to go in the first half. It would prove to be the largest lead that the Blazers would enjoy the rest of the night.

The Crusaders chopped into the Blazers four point lead as Kim Lewis made a pair of free throws making the score 21-19. The rest of the half remained tight with a total of three ties in the final six minutes of the half. William Carey's biggest lead of the half came at the one minute mark when Alisha Mason made a jumper inside the paint to put the Crusaders up 34-23 to end the first period of play.

Forty five seconds into the second half, William Carey scored on a jumper by Consuela Tucker. Belhaven responded with a basket by Brittany Carr making the score 36-25 with 18:26 to go in the contest. William Carey increased their lead to 12 points with just over 13 minutes left making the score 48-25.

With 8:40 left in the game, Jira Williams made a steal that contributed to a basket by Reneka Thompson making the score 55-37. With just under six minutes left in the contest the Blazers began to pick up their defense and made a strong comeback. Belhaven closed to within six points of William Carey at 64-58 with 1:58 on the clock thanks to a fast break lay up by Carr.

The Crusaders pushed the lead back to seven points with just over one minute to go but Belhaven responded quickly by getting back within three points at 65-62 with 44 seconds to play on a jumper by Courtney Ward. Belhaven was able to regain possession of the ball with a defensive team rebound after a missed three pointer by Britta Stephens. The Blazers called a timeout with 13 seconds left in the game to set up their final possession. On the final play of the game, Mallory Hammack's three pointer for the Blazers at the buzzer was off target as the Crusaders closed out the game with a 65-62 win.

Belhaven had four players in double figures in scoring led by Mullins with 15 points. Carr and Williams both had 13 points followed by Ward with 11 points. Jessica Barlow paced the Blazers in rebounds with a game high seven boards. Monday's contest gives Barlow a total of 157 rebounds for the season. As a team, Belhaven connected on 35.6 percent of their shots from the field, 20 percent of their three pointers, and hit 38.9 percent of their free throws.

William Carey was led by Lewis who scored a game high 20 points. Two other players reached double figures on the scoreboard as Alisha Mason dropped in 16 points and Tucker added in 12 points. Britta Stephens paced the Crusaders in rebounds with a game high six boards. William Carey as a team had a field goal percentage of 50 percent. The Crusaders converted 80 percent of their free throws and 23.1 percent of their shots from beyond the arc.

Belhaven returns to action at home on Thursday night to face Xavier University of Louisiana in another GCAC contest beginning at 5:30 PM.