WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The HU women’s basketball team outlasted Bethel 62-58 Wednesday night at the Wiekamp Athletic Center. The victory snapped a two-game skid and proved Huntington’s first conference win.

Over the last decade, the Foresters have owned the series between these two squads by way of 19 wins to just two losses. HU’s record this season stands at 3-4 overall, 1-1 in CL action, while the Pilots (2-6, 0-2) remain on the prowl for their first league W.

Gabi Melby put the team on her back in the second frame. After a quiet first half, the 5-4 point guard went off for 22 second half points to more than match HU’s entire point total in the opening twenty minutes.

The first half was a defensive struggle as neither team was tearing up the nets to the tune of a 22-21 ball game favoring the hosts. Both teams came alive in the third quarter with Huntington piecing together a 26-point ten-minute segment. Melby lit it up. She opened up the quarter with a long ball and then nailed another at the buzzer on her way to scoring half of HU’s third quarter points.

Most impressive about Huntington’s scoring frenzy in the third was overcoming an eight-point deficit midway through the quarter. Rather than hanging their heads, the visitors ratcheted things up at both ends of the court to outscore the Pilots 18-5 over the next five minutes to take a 47-43 lead into the fourth.

Bethel made up those four points by the midway point of the fourth to make for an exciting finish. With the game up for grabs at 52-52 with 5:22 to go, the next four minutes saw three stalemates with HU not enjoying another lead until Melby completed her third and one of the evening for a 59-58 Huntington advantage with 90 seconds remaining.

After Huntington clamped down defensively to hold Bethel scoreless, Melby was at it again, this time going 1-for-2 from the line to up the lead to two. Another empty possession at the other end of the floor allowed Melby to add to her highlight reel by juking several defenders for a floater in the lane which padded the lead to 62-58 with ten ticks remaining. HU’s swarming defense polished things off as time expired with the Pilots unable to even get a look.

When all was said and done, Melby scored the game’s final six points. Defensively, HU limited their hosts to just two points in the final three minutes to secure the win.

Melby finished with a game-high 26 points to go along with four rebounds, three steals and two assists. Bailey Kelham also had herself a game by pouring in 21 points which included three from downtown. The rookie guard also corralled a game-best seven rebounds, blocked two shots and swiped two steals. The twosome accounted for 47 of their team’s 62 points.

Bethel was led by Nyla Asad’s 17 points. Other double-digit scorers for the Pilots included Mariah Claywell with 15 and Maiah Shelton with ten.

Next up for Maggard and crew is a home game against Saint Francis on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.