Hawks eliminate LaGrange, advance to USA South quarterfinals

MONTGOMERY, Ala.  – The Huntingdon women's basketball team scored the final seven points of the game to get by LaGrange College 58-54 on Wednesday night in the first round of the USA South Athletic Conference Tournament.

Trailing 54-51 with a little more than two minutes to play, Shaonica Thomas, Wyatt Bak and Indya Lawrence sparked the final 7-0 run for the Hawks. Thomas score to make it a one-point game with 2:02 remaining and a 3-pointer by Bak gave Huntingdon a 56-54 lead with 15 seconds on the clock.

Lawrence went to the free-throw line twice in the final seconds for the Hawks' final points. Lawrence sank one free throw to make it 57-54 with six seconds left and added a final free throw with one second remaining.

This is the fourth straight season the Hawks have reached the conference tournament. This is the team's third appearance in the conference quarterfinals during that time.

Huntingdon (13-13), the No. 4 seed in the West Division, will play at William Peace (22-3) in the conference quarterfinals. The Pacers are the No. 1 seed in the East Division. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. (Central) on Saturday.

Huntingdon led for most of the first half, led 30-24 at halftime, and did not trail until midway through the third quarter. But the Panthers led for the final 5:16 of the third quarter and continued to lead in the fourth quarter.

Despite playing from behind, Huntingdon never let LaGrange get more than six points ahead. Trailing 50-44 with 5:40 to play in the game, the Hawks outscored LaGrange 14-4 to close the game.

Thomas led Huntingdon with a double-double of 22 points and 10 rebounds. Bak finished with 12 points on four 3-pointers and Destiny Cross had six rebounds.

Records: Huntingdon (13-13); LaGrange (15-11)

Coming Up: Huntingdon will play at William Peace in the USA South quarterfinals on Saturday at 1 p.m. (Central).