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Jackson, MS- The Belhaven women's basketball team clinched the Southern States Athletic Conference West Division title Thursday night with an 87-69 win over Loyola University. The victory gives the Blazers a number one seed the Southern States Conference Tournament in Rome, GA as well as an automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament in Jackson, TN.

The Blazers made school history Thursday by clinching their first ever NAIA National Tournament berth. Belhaven shooting guard Sarah Carr was able to break the school record for most three pointers in a single season. The record was held by Tameka Foley with 68 in the 2004 season. Carr is now up to 72 made three pointers with three regular season games left on the 2010-11 schedule.

Belhaven (21-6, 9-1 SSAC) was led on the offensive end of the floor by Kiara Johnson with 23 points and six assists. Carr dropped in 17 points going 5-8 from three point range. Regena Jackson turned in 16 points and a team high nine assists. Erika Leflore went a perfect 5-5 from the field tossing in 13 points while Portia Tucker chipped in eight points and had a team high ten rebounds on the night.

Belhaven shot 51.6% (32-62) from the field and 58.1% (18-31) from the free throw line. The Blazers forced the Wolfpack into 21 turnovers which led to 20 points for the Blazers. The Blazers outscored the Wolf pack in points in the paint 46-24 and also outscored the Wolfpack in both halves of the contest 40-34 in the first and 47-35 in the second.

Loyola (17-9, 5-4 SSAC) was led by Jasmine Brewer with 17 points and a team high 11 rebounds. Amy Moody turned in 15 points going 4-6 from three while Keiva Council dropped in 12 points on the night for the Wolfpack. Loyola shot 35.6% from the field and 78.6% from the free throw. The Wolfpack managed to out rebound the Blazers 42-34 with seventeen of them being offensive.

The contest started off with both teams trading baskets. The Blazers began to pull away at 12:41 mark going on a 9-0 run to go up eleven. Jackson then hit a jumper to put the Blazers up seventeen with a little over seven minutes left in the half. With 4:27 left in the half, the Wolfpack then went on an 11-0 run to cut the lead to six 40-34 going into halftime.

Jackie Padilla hit a three pointer to cut the lead to three in the opening moments of the second half making the score 40-37. Carr answered by dialing up a three to push the Blazers ahead by eight at the 16:54 mark. A layup by Erika Leflore gave the Blazers a 12 point lead with under ten minutes to go and Council scored a jumper to cut the lead to ten. A pair of free throws by Johnson pushed the lead back out to 16 with 4:41 left. Council then hit a pair of free throws to put her team back within ten. The Blazers finally put the game out of reach thanks to an 8-2 run to close the game sealing the 87-69 win.

The win brings the Blazers season record to 21-6 and 9-1 in Southern States Athletic Conference play. The Blazers will look for their tenth road win of the season as they travel to Montgomery, Ala to take on Faulkner University. The game is set to begin at 2:00p.m. The Blazers defeated the Eagles back in January in Rugg Arena 73-66.