WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The Forester women’s basketball team kicked off their time in Florida with an 82-71 win over Keiser, host of the West Palm Beach Classic, Tuesday morning on Massimino Court in the KU Student Life Center.

The rate at which HU was able to put the ball in the hole was impressive. Maggard’s crew sizzled the nets to the tune of 59.6 percent from the floor (31-for-52) with nearly half their field goals coming from deep. The Foresters knocked down 14 triples at a clip of 51.9 percent with Bailey Kelham highlighting their shooting clinic.

The 5-9 sharpshooter finished 7-for-12 from long range which included a rare four-point play at the start of the fourth quarter on her way to totaling a game-best 24 points. She also shared team-best rebounding honors with Liv Raby with each snarling five.

Kelham tag teamed with Kyndra Sheets in the latter part of the third to fire off a barrage of threes, each dropping in a pair on four consecutive possessions to create the largest disparity of the day up to that point at 59-50.

The three-point fest continued into the fourth with Kelham’s four-point play the first of three more from downtown by HU in as many possessions. It opened up a 75-59 lead with 7:26 remaining with the Seahawks never able to dig their way out of the double-digit disparity after that.

Sheets finished with a trio of three-pointers for nine points to go along with four rebounds and two steals. Gabi Melby logged a double double of 14 points and 11 assists. Raby made her presence known on both sides of the ball by posting 13 points and swatting three shots. Addie Shank offered valuable minutes of the bench by scoring nine points and collecting three boards.

Annaka Nelson tossed in seven points but it was her defensive prowess that stood out. The 6-1 forward had five blocks and three steals to her name.

Elise Ellison led Keiser with 18 points and ten boards. Jasmyn Hale also had a double double for the Hawks with 12 points and 15 rebounds while Caidyn Cannon and Jade Simpson added 12 and ten points respectively for the hosts.

The Seahawks were monsters on the offensive glass, tracking down 27 of their own misses which they converted into 29 points. Second chance points accounted for over 40 percent of KU’s scoring. Despite Huntington’s inability to keep their hosts off the boards, Maggard’s crew still led for over 75 percent of the game and never let Keiser stray more than two possessions ahead on the rare occasions they gave up the lead.

Other notables for the Foresters included racking up a total of ten blocks and handing out a season-high 23 assists. With this win, HU improves to 6-5 on the year while the Seahawks drop to 7-4.

Huntington will take on #5 Providence tomorrow at 1:15 p.m. in day two action of the West Palm Beach Classic.