WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The #RV HU women’s basketball team finally came alive in the fourth quarter to slip past Bethel 84-75 Saturday afternoon at the Wiekamp Center.

After 30 minutes that included ten lead changes and seven ties with a disparity that never spanned more than two possessions, Culler and crew finally ripped off eight straight points early in the fourth quarter to turn their two-point advantage into a 72-62 advantage with 5:55 to go.

It was the breathing room they had been searching for all afternoon. While the Pilots (7-21, 1-15) would cut it to single digits on the next possession and then again at the very end, Huntington’s lead was never really threatened. A pair of rookies in Alaina Rongos and Dazia Drake carried the load by accounting for 15 of their team’s 22 fourth quarter points.

Rongos was 4-for-5 in the final ten minutes with all eight of her points coming by way of ten-foot jumpers. The 5-11 forward finished with a career-best and team-leading 21 points to go along with five rebounds and two assists.

Drake’s fourth quarter scoring wasn’t quite as predictable. After a pull-up five-footer in the paint, she scored a reverse layup in transition and then buried a three to pour in seven points within a three-minute spell. The Spencer native finished with 13 points for her best scoring effort in green and white to date. She also tracked down four rebounds and swiped two steals.

Erin Mohr and Sarah Fryman each tossed in ten points. Fryman also handed out six assists on the day.

Sam Hammel rounded out Huntington’s double-digit scoring with ten points but her performance spanned well beyond the points she put up today. She also collected ten rebounds, six of which were on the offensive end, and dished out ten dimes for the rare triple double. It’s just the second triple double in program history and comes on the heels of Fryman’s triple double against Grace just a few weeks prior.

As a team, the Foresters shot 52.8 percent from the field (38-for-72). It’s the seventh time this year HU has shot over 50.0 percent for the game. The visitors only got to the line eight times to Bethel’s 21 and scored 12 points from deep compared to their hosts who finished with 30 points from long range. HU won the battle of the boards 38-35.

The win is HU’s eighth consecutive over the Pilots as they improve to 20-8 on the year, 9-7 in league play. With two regular season games remaining, Culler and company are tied with Grace for fifth in the CL standings. Next up for the Foresters is senior night on Wednesday against Taylor at 7:00 p.m.