Box Score
FRANKLIN SPRINGS, Ga- The Belhaven women's basketball team gained its first Southern States Athletic Conference victory Friday night pulling off a road win against Emmanuel College on Friday night 67-64. Friday's contest proved to be the Blazers toughest test so far this season facing a 36-26 halftime deficit. In the second half, the Blazers gained their composure and managed to outscore the Lions 41-28 en route to a victory.

Belhaven (6-0, 1-0 SSAC) got off to a slow start finding themselves down early by five at the 14:17 mark in the first half. Senior Portia Tucker scored a basket to cut the Emmanuel lead to 13-11. Emmanuel (4-2, 0-1 SSAC) then produced an 8-4 run pushing their lead to 10 points with 7:45 left to go in the half.  Senior Jessica Barlow put a dent in the Lions edge scoring a layup with 1:33 left making the score 33-24. Aubany Thomas then hit a field goal with just 30 seconds left in the half giving the Lions a 36-26 advantage at the half time break.

In the opening minutes of the second half, Emmanuel looked to have total control of the contest. It wasn't until the 16:04 mark that sophomore Erika Leflore scored a basket to cut the Lions lead to five, 45-40. Barlow then made a field goal to pull the Blazers within two with 13:08 left to go. Senior Regena Jackson set Barlow up to score her second straight field goal to tie the game up at 50 all. The game then became a ping pong match from then on with both teams making plays to either tie the score or put themselves up by two points. At the 8:04 mark Belhaven saw their first lead of the second half from a Kiara Johnson free throw making the score 55-54. With 4:25 left, Barlow scored a basket to give the Blazers a 62-57 lead, their largest of the contest. The Blazers scoring was closed out by Johnson who stepped up to the free throw line and made four straight clutch free throws down the stretch. Her free throws essentially won the game, hitting two of those free throws with just 4 seconds left on the clock giving the Blazers a 67-64 victory.

The Blazers shot 41% (22-53) from the field Friday night and 67% from the charity stripe. Belhaven forced 19 turnovers translating into 18 points. Emmanuel won the battle on the boards 51-36, but the Blazers capitalized from the turnovers and managed to outscore the Lions by 13 points in the second half. Belhaven's defense held the Lions to a shooting percentage of 36 percent from the floor and 30 percent from three point range.

Jackson led all scorers with a game high 27 points and team high three assists. Jackson was trailed by Johnson with 10 points off the bench while Barlow and Tucker both chipped in nine points apiece. Erika Leflore led the team with eight rebounds.

The Lions were paced by Ashley Lockett with 15 points. Caniesha Bell turned in 14 points while Kaylyn Young tossed in nine points. Ashontti Lewis had a team high 11 rebounds in the contest.

Belhaven will look to stay hot as they take on Brenau University on Saturday in Gainesville, GA. Game time is slated for 2:00 PM.