WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

It wasn’t how the #RV HU women’s basketball team wanted to head into Christmas break as they came up short against NAIA Division I Cumberland, 69-62, Saturday afternoon at Platt Arena.

To look at the stat sheet, the Foresters did a lot of things well like corralling 14 offensive rebounds and committing just ten turnovers but shooting was the missing piece. HU shot 33.3 percent for the game (19-for-57) – just the fourth time this year they’ve shot less than 40 percent from the field.

The Phoenix, on the other hand, shot nearly ten percent better than their season average by knocking down 47.3 percent of their attempts (26-for-55) which included nailing seven from downtown. They also committed six less TOs than normal.

Despite the discrepancies between the two squads, no more than two possessions separated them until midway through the fourth quarter when Cumberland (3-8) went on a 12-3 run to turn their two-point advantage into an 11-point difference of 65-54 with 2:27 remaining. While the Foresters trimmed it to five, 67-62, with 30 seconds to go, time expired before the hosts had a chance at a heroic comeback.

Sarah Fryman topped Culler’s crew with 14 points. Brooke Saylor finished with her third double double of the year with 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Sam Hammel also added 13 points, nine of which came from the charity stripe.

Devon Burns poured in a career-best 17 points for the Phoenix. Carli Codner-Pinto tossed in 13 while Kerrice Watson and Britany Miller added 12 and ten points respectively.

With this loss, Huntington drops to 9-5 on the year. They are back in action for the St. Xavier Classic on December 28-29.