Huntingdon rally falls short in second half against Millsaps

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Huntingdon Lady Hawks didn't get the final result they wanted on Thursday against Millsaps College. Despite the 60-56 loss, Huntingdon head coach Buzz Phillips was encouraged by what he saw from his team during the first day of the Huntingdon College Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.

"We didn't play well in the first half, but these girls played a great second half and gave us a chance to win," Phillips said. "The girls left it all on the floor tonight and I couldn't be any more proud of this team than I am right now."

Huntingdon (3-4) struggled offensively in the first half, hitting just five field goals and shooting 19.2 percent from the field. Defense helped keep the Lady Hawks in the game as Millsaps (8-2) shot 20 percent from the field and only led 24-14 at the half.

In the second half, the Lady Hawks began to turn it around on offense. Millsaps maintained its lead during the early minutes of the second half before back-to-back 3-pointers by Kyra Holiday and LaTerial Williams sparked Huntingdon. The Lady Hawks continued to chip away at the Majors' lead and pulled ahead on a Sekal Ousley basket with 10:26 to play in the game.

The two teams swapped leads during the remainder of the game. After Millsaps built a six-point lead with 2:36 to play, Morgan Crawford scored six straight points to bring the Lady Hawks back and tie the game with a minute to play.

The Majors pulled out the win with a Brittnei Earl 3-pointer and a Janice Okeke free throw in the final 31 seconds.

Crawford and Ousley each scored nine points to lead Huntingdon. Patricia Pickens followed with eight points and Williams and Holiday each added seven points. Tanjanik Munford pulled down seven rebounds.

Shante Morton led Millsaps (8-2) with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Velvet Johnson added 11 points and Okeke had 13 rebounds, nine points and five steals.

Huntingdon returns to action on Saturday against Rust College (6-8). Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. Although the Lady Hawks do not play again until Saturday, the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic continues on Friday with seven games at Roland Arena.

Millsaps and Balckburn open the action at 9 a.m. For the complete tournament schedule, go to http://www.huntingdonhawks.com/sports/wbkb/2011-12/coachesvscancerindex.

Coaches vs. Cancer results

Rhodes College 70

Meredith College 68

Sharwil Bell scored with one second left to lift Rhodes College (6-3) in the first game of the Huntingdon College Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.

Bell scored a game-high 25 points and five steals and also pulled down six rebounds. Mary Barber grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.

Megan Rahn led Meredith (3-4) with 19 points. Keyanka Bailey added 14 points and nine rebounds for the Avenging Angels and Bryana Holmes added 10 points.

Mississippi College 67

Oglethorpe 60

Caitlin Brown scored 12 points and Valeri Stewart added 11 points to lead Mississippi College (5-4). Kristin Newsome grabbed eight rebounds and Sarah Workman finished with

five steals.

Sarah Jones led Oglethorpe (3-8) with 21 points.

Birmingham-Southern 75

Blackburn College 43

Birmingham-Southern (5-5) built a 25-point lead in the first half and cruised to victory.

Melanie Short and Erin Moore each scored 13 points to lead the Panthers. Elizabeth Bromirski added 11 points and Alex Adams finsihed with 10 points.

Andrea Kleinsorge paced Blackburn (0-10) with 16 points and Rashonda Willis added 10 points.

Centre College 70

Ripon College 56 

Four players scored in double figures to lead Centre (9-1). Lauren Huter scored 18 points, Maggie Prewitt added 14 points, Bridget Winstead followed with 11 points and Paige Baechle finished with 10 points.

Katie Raymond led Ripon (2-6) with 18 points. Jill Van Eperen added 12 points and Sia Gonyo scored 11 points.

Martin Methodist 90

AUM 85 

Vee Young scored 23 points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked four shots to lead Martin Methodist (9-2). Young and teammates Becca Smithson and Micah Anderson combined for 58 of the RedHawks' 90 points. Anderson finished with18 points and Smithson added 17 points.

Keisha Moore led Auburn University-Montgomery (5-6) with 24 points and Stephanie Torrence added 14 points.

Moore hit a pair of free throws with 55 seconds left to pull AUM within two points. AUM missed a layup and a 3-pointer in the final 15 seconds and the RedHawks sank three free throws to close the game.

Faulkner University 87

University of New Orleans 62

Brittney Carter powered Faulkner (10-5) with 20 points and 19 rebounds, Katie Pavlik added 14 points and six rebounds and Christina Hayes finished with 13 points and six rebounds.

Keri Thomas and Spring Drake each scored 11 points for the University of New Orleans (0-12). Mirjam Sipos added 10 points.