Pickens and Garmany power Lady Hawks to first win of the season

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Senior Pat Pickens and sophomore Mackenzie Garmany both turned in career-high scoring performances to help the Huntingdon women's basketball team pick up its first win of the season with a 65-61 victory over Rust College on Tuesday.

Pickens, who set the Lady Hawks' NCAA-era single-game scoring record last season, set a new mark with 37 points against Rust. Pickens' previous best was 35 points. Garmany added 21 points, breaking her previous collegiate best by two points.

The duo combined to score all 36 of the Lady Hawks' first-half points and finished the game with all but seven of Huntingdon's points. Pickens also had 13 rebounds and five steals and was 15-of-19 from the field. Tierra Henry had seven steals and seven rebounds.

"We had two primary scorers, but it was an overall team effort," Huntingdon head coach Buzz Phillips said. "I thought our defensive effort was good all night. We were missing some players tonight, but we played hard, handled the ball well and got a much-needed win."

Tied 36-36 at the half, neither team could pull away in the second half. Huntingdon (1-2) built an eight-point lead in the first seven minutes of the second half for the largest lead of the game.

Rust (1-6) took the lead midway through the second half and maintained the lead until the final five minutes. A pair of Pickens' layups and a Henry layup put Huntingdon back in front, 63-58, with 2:15 to play. Pickens helped seal the win with a pair of free throws with 11 seconds left.

Huntingdon returns to action on Dec. 6, hosting Wesleyan at 4 p.m.