Box Score JACKSON-Miss.- The Belhaven women's basketball team came into Saturday's Southern States Athletic Conference game with Emmanuel College looking to bounce back from a tough loss to Auburn-Montgomery Friday night. The Blazers were able to fight their way to a 72-60-conference victory over the Lions and move back above the .500 mark at 5-4 overall and 2-2 in league play.

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The Blazers were sparked by their bench play as the reserves tallied a total of 27 points on the afternoon. "We had about 12 or 13 of our players play by halftime," said Head Coach Rusty Cram. "Our bench definitely helped us out a bunch with their efforts today."

Freshman guard Ariel Wilson was able to get back on track, as she paced the Blazers with 21 points on the afternoon. Wilson only shot 37% from the field, but capitalized on her free opportunities at the charity stripe, converting 12 of 14 at the line.

"Ariel played better this game and she stepped it up for us in the second half of play," said Cram.

Junior forward TaShayla Steede was a dominant force for the Blazers as she poured in a season high 13 points and 14 total rebounds. Steede managed to even out her the work on the glass with both seven offensive and seven defensive rebounds.

"This was a total team effort tonight," said Cram. "Everyone brought their effort, and we got production from several different players."

Although the Blazers seemed to maintain their lead for the better part of the contest, there were four ties and four lead changes throughout the game. The Blazers were ignited by their 32 points in the paint and were stingy against the Lions' drives only giving up six points in the paint.

"We needed this win to get our confidence back and carry over into our next conference games," said Cram.

The Blazers will travel to Cleveland, Mississippi to take on NCAA Division II opponent Delta State University in an exhibition match on Tuesday night. Tip-off is slated for 7pm.