Box Score
JACKSON, Miss.-The Belhaven women's basketball team pulled through for a crucial Southern States Athletic Conference victory over Southern Wesleyan University 80-34 Friday night in Rugg Arena. The Blazers, who are receiving votes in the latest NAIA Top 25 Poll, snapped a four game losing streak with the win and remained unbeaten in league play.

Belhaven (8-4, 3-0 SSAC) dominated from start to finish and never trailed at any point in the game. The Blazers opened the game with a 14-2 run and that set the stage for the rest of the contest. Senior Regena Jackson opened things up with a jump shot 26 seconds into the action and senior Kiara Johnson capped the scoring burst on a fast break layup with 15:38 to play in the half.

Southern Wesleyan (4-7, 1-2 SSAC) cut it to a seven point game at 14-7 with a mini 5-0 run, but the Blazers quickly answered with a 7-0 run of their own to make it a 21-7 game on sophomore Ericka Lelfore's layup with 12:17 to play in the opening frame. From there, Belhaven continued to pile on the points enjoying a 21 point edge at halftime 42-21. The second half belonged to the Blazers as well as they outscored the Warriors 38-13 in the final 20 minutes.

Jackson paced Belhaven on offense with 16 points and five assists. Jackson led the NAIA in scoring average coming into the game and following Friday's performance is putting up 21.9 points per night. Leflore had a solid effort as well sending in 11 points while grabbing seven rebounds. Senior Jessica Barlow rounded out the double digit scorers with 10 points while also contributing seven rebounds. Senior Portia Tucker hauled down a team high eight rebounds and chipped in with eight points. Johnson also had eight points and seven steals leading to numerous fast break opportunities. In fact, the Blazers ended up scoring 18 points off the break in the game.

Belhaven dominated in all facets of the game with 52 points in the paint, 28 points off of 28 Southern Wesleyan turnovers, 23 second chance points, and a 57-36 advantage on the glass. The Blazers also had 19 steals as a team on Friday. Offensively, Belhaven connected on 45.8 percent of their field goals (33-72), fired in 33.3 percent of their triples (6-18), and converted 50 percent of their free throws (8-16).

Southern Wesleyan was led by Whitley Smith with 11 points and three other players followed with four points apiece. One of them was Ashley Cooper who had a game high 13 rebounds. The Warriors were held to a 23.2 percent shooting night from the field (13-56) by a tough Blazer defense that kept the pressure on throughout the game.

Belhaven will look to keep the momentum going on Saturday when they host Truett-McConnell College in an SSAC showdown beginning at 2:00 PM in Rugg Arena. Fans can follow all the action through live stats by clicking here.