Lady Hawks basketball uses big second half to get by Spelman

ATLANTA, Ga. – For the second time in two days, the Huntingdon women's basketball team used a 50-point half to take control of a game.

Huntingdon scored 51 points in the final 18 minutes to rally past Spelman for an 83-71 win on Sunday. A day earlier, the Lady Hawks used a 52-point first half in a win over Salem.

After going more than two years without scoring 80 points, the Lady Hawks have scored 80 or more points in three straight games. Sunday's 83-points matched the season-high Huntingdon set on Saturday.

With two regular-season games remaining, Huntingdon improved to 15-8 overall and 10-4 in the Great South Athletic Conference. Since the 2001-02 season, this is just the third time the Lady Hawks have won 15 games. The 2007-08 team was 15-12 and the 2008-09 team was 16-12.

In Sunday's win, Huntingdon trailed Spelman (6-15, 4-11) by six early in the second half. Huntingdon took the lead for good with 15:13 to play, but the game was far from over.

Although the Lady Hawks led the remainder of the game, Spelman remained within striking distance until the final minutes. Leading 64-60 with less than five minutes to play, Huntingdon closed the game with a 19-11 run.

A Tanjanik Munford layup gave Huntingdon a 72-61 lead with 1:57 to play. It was Huntingdon's final field goal of the game. The Lady Hawks' final 11 points came on free throws. In the final 1:06, Morgan Crawford hit six free throws, Jessi Andrews made four and Jodi Thomas made one.

Raven Prater led the Lady Hawks in scoring and rebounding, finishing with 18 points and seven rebounds. Crawford followed with 14 points, six rebounds and five assists, Sekal Ousley had 12 points and five rebounds and Munford finished with 10 points and six rebounds. Patricia Pickens added nine points and six rebounds and LaTerial Williams pulled down six rebounds.

Huntingdon returns to Roland Arena on Wednesday. The Lady Hawks host LaGrange at 5 p.m.