WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Wins on the road in the Crossroads League are not easy to come by but a gritty Forester women’s basketball team found a way to get the job done against the Lancers of Grace College, 59-54, Saturday afternoon to up their record to 6-4 overall, 3-3 in CL action.

While neither team could put the ball in the hole in the opening 20 minutes for a 20-17 halftime score that favored the Lancers (10-9, 1-8), the second frame had a different feel. The hosts came out of intermission as the aggressors to piece together a 13-2 run for the day’s largest gap of 33-19 by the midway point of the third quarter.

Up to that point, offense was still hard to come by for HU, but a Logan Rowles penetrating layup and a Sam Hammel three from the top of the key within a 60-second span sparked the start of an impressive comeback. By the end of the quarter, the Foresters had chopped the deficit to just four points at 39-35.

Huntington had officially turned the corner and showed no signs of slowing down in the final ten minutes. Rowles put her team in the driver’s seat by picking apart GC’s zone defense to the tune of 12 fourth-quarter points, all of which came in the paint. Konnor Gambrell also played a crucial role in the stanza by coming up with several key defensive stops, including two steals, while also scoring four of her eight points and corralling five of her six rebounds.

By the 7:27 mark of the fourth quarter, HU took over the lead, 43-42, and never gave it back. Erica Zook dropped in a three with just over four minutes remaining that extended the visitors’ lead to 50-42. It proved the pivotal play.

While the Lancers struck back with a pair of threes over the next 90 seconds, HU stayed poised. In addition to knocking down the necessary free tosses down the stretch, Dazia Drake’s shot clock-beating jumper with :23 ticks remaining guaranteed the road win for Culler and crew.

When all was said and done, HU outscored the Lancers 38-19 over the final 15 minutes of play. The W is HU’s first in the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center since January of 2016 when they topped Grace 76-63.

Rowles finished with a career-high 15 points. The 5-9 forward missed just two shots on the afternoon in addition to posting four rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block for the best game of her collegiate career. Sam Vaughn also finished with 15 points to share game-high scoring honors with her teammate.

Vaughn, harassed by Grace defenders from end-to-end the entire contest, was the glue that held HU together. In addition to her 15 points, she also tracked down six rebounds, half of which were offensive, handed out three dimes and tallied a block and a steal.

Drake also had a solid overall day by collecting six points and just as many rebounds. She also registered a game-leading four assists and four steals.

Maddie Ryman had a big second half for Grace where she scored all 12 of her points. Kamryn Hostetler chipped in 11 while Kaylie Warble added ten. The 6-1 center also posted a game-best nine rebounds.

Next up for Culler and crew is a home game against #6 Marian on Monday 7:00 p.m.