Box Score
Jackson, MS- The Belhaven women's basketball team reached their 20th win of the season defeating William Carey University Saturday afternoon in Rugg Arena 69-54. It is the first time since 1982 that the program has posted at least 20 wins in a season. The Blazers are now one win away from clinching the Southern States Athletic Conference West Division title and their first ever trip to the NAIA National Tournament.

Belhaven's (20-6, 8-1 SSAC) Regena Jackson led all scorers with 23 points while dishing out five assists. Kiara Johnson turned in 17 points for the Blazers and had a team high eight assists. Jessica Barlow and Sarah Carr dropped in nine points apiece. Carr is two three pointers away for breaking the school record for the most three pointers in a single season which is currently held by Tamekia Foley who had 68 in 2004. Carr has 67 with four regular season games left on the schedule. Following Barlow and Carr was Portia Tucker with eight points and a team high nine rebounds.

Belhaven shot 48.2% (27/56) from the floor and 45.5% (5/11) from behind the arch. The Blazers forced William Carey into 22 turnovers and came up with 16 steals as Johnson led the way with a team high seven steals. The Blazers won the battle in points in the paint 32-24 while also managing to outscore WCU in both halves 35-29 in the first and 34-25 in the second. 

William Carey University (10-12, 5-4 SSAC) was led by TeAnna Carter with 13 points and three rebounds. Following Carter was Megan Reynolds with 10 points and Haleigh Arcement turned in eight points while Shareka Hunt dialed in seven points and a team high twelve rebounds. The Crusaders shot 37.7% (21/56) from the field and 30.8% (4/13) for three pointers. The Crusaders won the rebounding clash 39-34.

Belhaven had control of the game and never lost the lead at any point of the contest. Jackson hit a layup at the 13:27 mark in the opening period to give the Blazers a six point lead. Johnson scored to put the Blazers up eleven with 10:30 left to go. At the 1:57 mark the Blazers were up ten 35-25. The Crusaders then hit two back to back baskets on a jumper by Jerrika Williams to make it 35-26. Then a jumper by TeAnna Carter with just one second left on the clock made it 35-29 at the break.

The Blazers were back on track after Portia Tucker connected on two back to back field goals within the opening three minutes of the second half. Haleigh Arcement hit a three for the Crusaders to cut into the Blazer's lead making it 42-35. Sarah Carr answered with a three of her own to give the Blazers a twelve point lead 42-30 with 17:54 left. A Jessica Barlow layup gave the Blazers a seventeen point lead with just under 11:00 to go. Two free throws by Jackson granted the Blazers their largest lead of the night at 20. A Sarah Carr three made the score 69-51 with 1:24 left essentially placing the game out of reach for the Crusaders who did manage to knock down a pair of free throws with 37 seconds left creating the final score 69-54.
The win brings the Blazers season record to 20-6 and 8-1 in Southern States Athletic Conference play.

The Blazers will look for their 21st win on Thursday and clinch the SSAC West Division crown. Belhaven will play host to Loyola University who trails the Blazers by 2.5 games with three conference games to play. Belhaven posted a 73-64 win over the Wolfpack in New Orleans, LA on January 22nd. Thursday's tip-off is set for 5:30 PM and fans can follow all the action through live stats by clicking here.