Huntingdon women earn seventh straight win

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Huntingdon women's basketball team pulled away late and knocked off Salem College 76-61 on Saturday.

The win keeps Huntingdon at the top of the Great South Athletic Conference standings and helped make up for a 21-point loss to the Spirits on Jan. 5.

"The way they beat us the last time we played, we knew we had to be focused going into this game," Huntingdon head coach Buzz Phillips said. "We were tied at the half, but we responded and played very well in the second half. Like all of our wins recently, it was a team effort that made it happen."

The win was the seventh straight for the Lady Hawks (12-8, 5-1 GSAC), matching the program's longest winning streak in the NCAA-era. Huntingdon last won seven straight games during the 2005-2006 season.

"We haven't lost since our first game with Salem. I told the girls after that game that we had to regroup or it was going to be a long season," Phillips said. "We came back, went to work and we've grown closer as a team. This season is a long way from over, but I'm pleased with how our girls have responded so far."

Salem (11-10, 4-3 GSAC) battled Huntingdon evenly until the final 10 minutes of Saturday's game. Tied 32-32 at the half, Huntingdon fell behind early in the second half before a late run turned the momentum.

Trailing 54-52 with 7:59 to play in the game, a pair of Katie Martin free throws tied the game. During the next six minutes, with the help of 12 points from Morgan Crawford and a pair of 3-pointers from freshman Alyson Burke, the Lady Hawks put the game away with a 20-2 run.

Patricia Pickens turned in her fourth double-double of the season and finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Crawford added 17 points and nine assists and Burke was 4-for-6 from 3-point range and finished with 14 points.

Crawford's nine assists tied her mark for the most by a Lady Hawk at home since Roland Arena was dedicated in 2007. Crawford set the record with nine assists against Oglethorpe earlier this season.

Huntingdon travels to Agnes Scott (11-8, 5-1 GSAC) on Tuesday for a 5 p.m. game.