Second-half surge sparks Lady Hawks

MADISONVILLE, Tenn. – The Huntingdon women's basketball team got off to a slow start on Saturday at Hiwassee College.

Playing for the first time since Nov. 29, the Lady Hawks built an eight-point lead at the half. A strong start in the second half broke the game open and propelled Huntingdon to a 79-44 win.

"We were a little sloppy in the first half. But we did a better job of taking care of business in the second half," Huntingdon head coach Buzz Phillips said. "Overall, coming off of exams and making a long road trip, we played well and did what we were supposed to do. It's still early in the season and we have a big game with Rust coming up. We need to keep playing together and keep working to get better."

Huntingdon (3-1) travels to Rust on Friday for a 4 p.m. game.

Against Hiwassee, the Lady Hawks led 33-25 at halftime. A 21-1 run in the second half helped put the game away. Freshman Kyra Holiday helped spark the run, sinking three 3-pointers during the stretch.

Phillips praised the performance of Holiday and other players that came off the bench during the run, which began six minutes into the second half.

"The biggest thing I saw today is we're developing depth," Phillips said. "In addition to our starting five, we've got another group of players that are coming in and doing good things for us. We had the opportunity to let our bench get in for some good minutes and they played well."

Holiday was one of five players to finish with at least 10 points. Katie Martin led Huntingdon with 11 points. Holiday, Devin Douglas, Whitney Toole and Morgan Crawford each finished with 10 points. Jodi Montalvo added eight rebounds and Sekal Ousley grabbed seven rebounds.