Lady Hawks basketball advances to GSAC semifinals for first time since 2009

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Huntingdon used a second-half push to knock off Spelman in the first round of the Great South Athletic Conference tournament on Tuesday night.

The Lady Hawks scored 36 points in the final 16 minutes to take a 68-47 win at Roland Arena.

Huntingdon (16-10) advances to the GSAC semifinals on Friday in LaGrange. This is the Lady Hawks' first appearance in the GSAC semifinals since 2009, when Huntingdon lost to Maryville in the tournament championship.

"This is a good feeling," Huntingdon senior LaTerial Williams said. "We knew we had the potential to do something big this season and we've been working hard since Day 1. Now, it's nice to get here, but we want to try and make a run in the tournament."

Huntingdon will play top-seeded Maryville on Friday. The winner advances to the tournament championship on Saturday at 1 p.m.

"This season has been an amazing experience," freshman Patricia Pickens said. "We know Friday is going to be a tough game, but everyone on the team wants to play Maryville again. This is our third time to play them and we know we have to be ready to come out and play."

Maryville edged Huntingdon 66-57 at Roland Arena in January and beat the Lady Hawks 70-47 in Maryville in early February.

"This will be the third time we've played them this season," Huntingdon head coach Buzz Phillips said. "We've got our work cut out for us, but our girls have worked hard for this opportunity and we're going to be ready to play."

On Tuesday, Huntingdon led 25-18 at the half and built a 12-point lead in the first minute of the second half. But Spelman (9-16) used a 15-2 run to go up 33-32 with 15:57 left in the game.

Phillips said that was the turning point in the game.

"The key was when they took the one-point lead in the second half," Phillips said. "Our girls realized it was time to take control or our season was over. We went on a run and we put the game away."

The Lady Hawks answered with a 23-5 run and a 17-point lead with 8:40 to play. Huntingdon extended its lead to as much as 22 points to close out the win.

Williams led Huntingdon with 17 points and eight steals. Williams scored 15 points in the second half. Pickens added 13 points, 10 rebounds and five steals and Morgan Crawford finished with 12 points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals. Jodi Montalvo had nine points and nine rebounds.