WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The HU women’s basketball team led from start to finish in their home opener to breeze past Rochester Christian 83-70 Thursday night at Platt Arena.

It was Kyndell Jochim’s first of two triples with just over a minute left in the first quarter that gave the hosts their first double digit lead of 17-5. It wasn’t until just before halftime that the lead remained a permanent double digit disparity. In the final four minutes of the second quarter Peyton Hartsough nailed three from long range to send her team into intermission up 40-25.

Threes were plentiful in the opening 20 minutes with five different Foresters draining at least one from downtown. As a team, HU went 11-for-23 for 47.8 percent from beyond the arc accounting for all but seven of their first half points.

Huntington stayed in control throughout the remainder of the contest, building their largest lead midway through the third at 51-34 thanks to six points from Liv Raby and a trey from Gabi Melby over a two-minute stretch. While the hosts held a padded lead throughout, they were never really able to shake the Warriors who ended up outscoring Maggard’s crew by five in the fourth to trim it to 13 by game’s end.

The Foresters outplayed RCU in every statistical category except rebounding where the guests enjoyed a 40-34 tilt which included 13 offensive boards that they converted into 15 points. HU tracked down seven of their own misses that they handed in for seven points.

Melby posted big numbers offensively for HU with a double double of 20 points and ten assists. She went 7-for-8 from the field and 3-for-3 from the line to make for an efficient night. Raby was one rebound shy of enjoying her own double double. The 6-1 sophomore finished with 18 points, with all but two coming after the break, and nine boards.

Bailey Kelham chipped in 14 points while Hartsough and Jochim added nine and eight points respectively.

The Foresters (1-1) have over a week’s break before hosting their own classic on November 7-8. HU will tip-off with the University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) on Friday at 5:00 p.m. before taking on Cumberland University (Tenn.) on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.