WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The #21 HU women’s basketball team got back to its winning ways Wednesday night at the McDonald Athletic Center by outlasting Spring Arbor 64-59. The win ups the Foresters’ record to 16-7 overall, 5-6 in league play and ends a four-game skid.

While the game was close throughout, Huntington held the upper hand most of the way. The handful of times the Cougars (7-15, 2-9) slipped in front, it was never by more than two points and was fairly short-lived.

It was a scoring fest for both teams in the opening quarter with HU holding a slight 22-21 advantage. After a slow start to the second, the Foresters opened up a ten-point lead of 33-23 with just over four minutes left in the frame by way of an 11-0 run.

Alexandria Bope led the charge by scoring six of her 12 points. Dazia Drake canned two freebies and Jade Clement dropped in her third long ball of the evening to account for the rest of HU’s points during the stretch.

HU would extend the lead to 11 two minutes later, which proved the largest gap of the night, thanks to a Sam Hammel triple before taking a 40-30 advantage into recess. A chance to regroup served the hosts well as they came out of halftime to post another 21-point quarter to whittle their disparity to a single point at 52-51 heading into the final ten minutes.

SAU carried momentum into the fourth by scoring the first bucket of quarter to go up 53-52. They would enjoy one more lead at the 5:48 mark before Sarah Fryman gave her team a permanent lead of 56-55 on the next trip down the floor when she snuck into the lane for an easy lay-in.

It remained a one-possession contest until Hammel cashed in on one of two free tosses to push the lead to 63-59 with ten ticks remaining after which Drake tossed in the final point to make for the final five-point spread.

The Foresters held their hosts scoreless the final 2:52 of the game to secure the W. While HU’s defense was on point, Culler’s squad also did some things well at the other end of the floor. In addition to shooting 46.4 percent from the field, they also tracked down two more of their own misses than SAU did. HU finished with 17 offensive boards to the Cougars’ 15 defensive rebounds.

Fryman poured in a game-best 24 points. In addition to tossing in 12 points, Bope also corralled a team-best ten rebounds to finish with her first collegiate double double. Hammel also collected 12 points to go along with three assists. Clement finished with nine points, all from long range.

Teona Feldpausch netted 16 points to lead the Cougars. Other double-digit scorers for SAU included Grace Shoobridge (13), Gracie Cabana (12) and Anne Marie Wright (11).

HU is back in Platt Arena to host Grace for its annual Pink Out game at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.