Lady Hawks stumble at Rust College

HOLLY SPRINGS, Miss. – The Huntingdon women's basketball team matched Rust College for most of the first half on Friday.

But a Rust run late in the first half put Huntingdon in a hole and helped the Bearcats take a 70-54 win. Rust (6-8) used a 16-point run in the final 5:14 of the first half to turn a one-point game into a 10-point game at the half. The Bearcats extended the lead in the second half.

"We didn't come out ready to play and you can't do that against a quality team like Rust," Huntingdon head coach Buzz Phillips said. "By the time we settled in, it was too late. They beat us on rebounds and we struggled at the free-throw line. We missed 11 free throws and they missed three.

"We've still got a lot to work on. We're going to come back after Christmas and go back to work."

Rust finished with 43 rebounds to the Lady Hawks' 27. The Bearcats shot a little better than 84 percent from the free-throw line while the Lady Hawks shot 50 percent (11-of-22).

Morgan Crawford led Huntingdon (3-2) with 12 points, Raven Prater added nine points and LaTerial Williams finished with seven points and five rebounds. Tanjanik Munford recorded eight rebounds and Sekal Ousley grabbed five rebounds.

Al'Lisha Hudson led Rust (6-8) with 17 points and Tremelanie McFadden added 12 points and 10 assists. Jessica Brown grabbed 14 rebounds.

The Lady Hawks return to action on Dec. 28, hosting Emory at 1 p.m. before hosting the Huntingdon Coaches vs. Cancer Classic on Dec. 29-31.