Lady Hawks earn first berth in NCAA basketball tournament

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Huntingdon sophomore Patricia Pickens and her teammates tried to soak in their first Great South Athletic Conference championship.

Moments after defeating Salem College 73-61 in the GSAC championship game on Sunday, the Lady Hawks celebrated with fans, shared hugs and posed for pictures of the historic moment.

For the first time in the 15-year history of the Huntingdon women's basketball program, the Lady Hawks are headed to the NCAA Tournament.

Huntingdon will learn its opponent, the game location and game time on Monday. The Division III Women's Basketball Selection Show will air on NCAA.com at 1:30 p.m.

"This is an unbelievable feeling," Pickens said. "When you look back at the way we started this season with a 3-6 record and where we are now, it's amazing. We're making history for our program.

"We were confident today. We split with Salem during the regular season and we wanted to prove we were No. 1 in the conference. Now, we have an opportunity no other Huntingdon women's basketball team has had."

Head coach Buzz Phillips called Sunday the "biggest moment" in the history of the women's basketball program.

"This is a great accomplishment for our girls. They've done something that's never been done here," Phillips said. "This is a special group of girls. When we were 3-6, we could have doubted ourselves and given up, but these girls pulled together and we turned the season around."

Pickens was named tournament MVP. The Anniston native finished with 24 points and nine rebounds on Sunday and totaled 43 points and 15 rebounds in two tournament wins.

"I was surprised that I was named MVP," Pickens said. "That wasn't my goal going in. I just wanted to play hard and win with my team. I knew how badly the other girls on this team wanted to win. We all wanted to be a part of this."

Senior Morgan Crawford added 17 points, four steals and two assists. Sophomore Tanjanik Munford and junior Jodie Thomas both finished with nine points and nine rebounds.

Huntingdon led the entire first half, but fell behind by three points early in the second half. Trailing 38-35, the Lady Hawks regained the lead and put the game away with a 31-10 run. During the run, Katie Martin scored eight points, Thomas scored seven, Pickens added six, Crawford followed with four and Munford and Raven Prater each scored three points.

During a stretch of a little more than a minute, Martin hit a jumper and back-to-back 3-pointers to make it a 10-point game. A Pickens basket capped the run to make it a 66-48 game with less than four minutes to play.

Phillips also wanted to thank the Huntingdon fans and the band for their support on Sunday and at home games throughout this season.

"I'd like to salute our pep band for all of their support this weekend and this season," Phillips said. "When we got down today, the band did a great job of keeping the fans involved in the game. They love being here and we love having them here."