Nick Kolsin, Sports Reporter
The UNC Pembroke women’s basketball team defeated the Belmont Abbey Crusaders 72-51 to win their second straight Conference Carolinas Women’s Basketball tournament Title. The win solidifies their berth in the NCAA DII Women’s Basketball Tournament as the #8 seed where they will face the host of the Southeast region which is #1 seed Catawba on Friday at 5 p.m.
” I’m just really proud of our team and our defense and offense got us that extension late in the third quarter and early in the fourth quarter. I mean we really shot the ball well we’re I think a better three-point shooting team than what we’ve got statistically. Our defense and rebounding also helped us out and I thought we played really good today,” Head coach John Haskins said.
There were multiple milestones/records broken in today’s game by the team. First, with her second three in the first quarter, Courtney Smith surpassed her 1000 career point mark. Kelci Adams broke the school record for most threes in a single season. As a team, their 15 threes are a school record for most threes in a single game.
Kalaya Hall talked about the confidence the team has in each other after the game.
“We’re gonna penetrate and kick out because we know that the person on the other side is gonna knock it down,” Hall said. “When Kelci [Adams] got it, Court [Courtney Smith] got it, I’m running back to the other end cause I believe 10 times out of 10 she’s gonna make it.”
The Crusaders started the game off with a and-one layup to set the tone early for the game. Aniah McManus came back down and hit a midrange jumper to get the braves on board. The Crusaders followed this up with a 10-2 run to give the Crusaders a 13-4 lead with 3 minutes left in the first quarter. The Braves shook off the early rust by scoring four straight threes on their final 4 offensive possessions of the quarter, two from Smith, and the others coming from Hall and Lillian Flantos. This gave them a 16-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Braves and Crusaders traded baskets for the entire second quarter including a total of three lead changes and two times where the game was tied. Hall took over the quarter scoring eight of the teams 14 points. A wing three from McManus and a steal leading to a coast-to-coast layup in the final minute gave the Braves a 30-28 lead at the end of the first half.
The third quarter started with more of the same from both teams. Both teams continued to make shots for the first five minutes, neither being able to generate more than a five-point lead. In the final minute of the quarter, the Braves were finally able to break the game open after Flantos second three of the game and another steal and fastbreak layup from Hall out the Braves up eight 50-42 heading into the final frame.
In the fourth the Braves tenacious defense shined only allowing the Crusaders to score nine points on 4-16 shooting (1-7 from 3) compared to their own 22 points on 5-7 from the field and shooting a perfect 4-4 from three. The Braves closed things out for the win.
Hall was named the tournament MVP for the second year in a row after her 25 points, eight rebounds and three steals in the title clinching game. This is the first time someone won back-to-back tournament MVPs since LaShonda Chiles did it in the 2006 tournament. Adams finished the game with 14 points and was named to the all-tournament team. Smith was also named to the all-tournament team. Flantos finished with 10 points, and four rebounds.