Box Score
New Orleans, LA-The Belhaven women's basketball team won their third consecutive Southern States Athletic Conference Western Division contest Saturday afternoon 73-64 at Loyola University. The Blazers set the tone early with an 8-0 run to begin the game and never trailed en route to the victory.
Belhaven (14-5, 3-1 SSAC) was led by
Regena Jackson who matched a season high in scoring with 22 points. Jackson also had a personal and team season high of 11 assists.
Sarah Carr followed Jackson with 14 points and
Kiara Johnson rounded out the double digit scorers with 10 points while grabbing a team leading nine rebounds.
Portia Tucker also had a solid game with nine points and five rebounds while Erica Leflore chipped in with eight points and six rebounds.
As a team, Belhaven was accurate from the field knocking down 50.9 percent of their total shots (30-59). The Blazers were 4 of 11 from three point range (36.4 percent) and converted 60 percent of their shots at the free throw line (9-15). Belhaven was outrebounded 36-32, but managed to score 44 points in the paint. The Blazers turned in another outstanding defensive performance forcing 19 Wolfpack turnovers which translated to 26 points.
Loyola (13-6, 2-1 SSAC), who received votes in the latest NAIA Top 25 Poll, was paced by Keiva Council who had a game and career high 31 points with 11 of them coming from the free throw line. Jasmine Brewer added 21 points thanks in large part to 11 free throws of her own. Brewer was Loyola's leader on the boards with a game high 10 ten rebounds. However, the Blazers defense was effective in shutting down the rest of the team holding all other players to four points or less during the game.
The Wolfpack had a tough night from the field making just 33.9 percent of their field goals (19-56) and only 13.3 percent of their three point tries (2-15). Loyola went to the free throw line 27 times and made 24 of those shots from the charity stripe (88.9 percent). The Wolfpack had 24 points in the paint and forced 17 Belhaven miscues leading to 27 points.
Belhaven jumped out in front with the first eight points of the game with the first two coming on a layup from
Jessica Barlow 40 seconds into the contest. Carr then followed with a pair of triples and with just over 18 minutes left on the first half clock the Blazers had an 8-0 edge.
The Wolpack managed to stay with striking distance through the majority of the opening period, but with about four minutes to go Belhaven put together an 11-2 run that would turn the tide of the first half. Leading 21-17, Johnson converted a three point play following a layup and a foul by Brewer with 3:37 left to go before halftime to kickoff the scoring run. Then as time expired, Tucker ended the half with a jumper at the buzzer to send the Blazers into the locker room with a 32-19 advantage.
In the second half, Belhaven was able to maintain a comfortable lead until late and led by as many as 15 points at 52-37 with a little over 10 minutes to play. However, Loyola would make one final push to get back in the contest and would eventually pull to within four points to make it a game late. The Blazers owned what seemed to be a comfortable lead at 64-50 with 3:30 minutes on the clock, but the Wolfpack would make things a little too close for comfort thanks to a 10-0 run that brought Loyola to within four points at 64-60 with 1:49 left.
The run was capped by a Council field goal and all of a sudden Belhaven was in need of a big basket to stop the Wolpack momentum. Jackson then stepped up big for the Blazers and delivered a key three point basket to answer Council's field goal a few seconds later making it a 67-60 with just under a minute and a half to play. From there, the defense tightened up and Belhaven had some key free throws down the stretch from Carr, Tucker, and Jackson to hold off the Wolfpack the rest of the way for the win.
Belhaven will be back in action on Monday night when they travel to Dillard University for a non-conference contest with the Bleu Devils beginning at 5:30 PM.
