DANVILLE, Ky. – The Centre women's basketball team used a swarming defense to shut down the Millsaps Majors in the opening round of the Southern Athletic Association Tournament, winning by a score of 56-38.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
- The Colonels turned up the heat on defense from the jump, holding the Majors without a basket for the first four minutes of the game.
Bailey Rucker broke an early tie with a three, and then on Centre's next offensive possession,
Katelyn Stiltner and
Taylor Garrett crashed the offensive glass for four rebounds before Garrett finally connected on a putback jumper while drawing a foul. Centre outscored Millsaps 9-0 over the final five minutes of the quarter to take a 13-4 lead after one period.
- Millsaps switched to a pressing defense to speed up the game in the second quarter and took advantage of the faster pace, cutting the Centre lead to 18-14. But Centre clamped down once again on defense and held Millsaps scoreless for the rest of the period as inside buckets by Stiltner and Rucker led to a 22-14 halftime lead for the Colonels.
- Centre came out with great energy in the third quarter, starting the period on an 11-0 run and extending their run for the game to 15 straight points.
Presley Chirico and
Emma Rose Vincent made free throws,
Payton Herold scored inside and also connected on a three in transition, and a rebound layup by
Natalie Duggins capped off the run to put Centre up by 19. Rucker nailed a three at the end of the shot clock and Herold made two more free throws to give the Colonels a 42-28 lead after three quarters.
- In the fourth quarter, the Majors went back to the press and cut the lead to 44-33 at the halfway point, but by then the fouls had mounted and the Colonels – fifth in the country in free throw percentage – went to work at the line, knocking down all eight of their free throw attempts to ice the game away.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Herold led all players with 16 points. Duggins chipped in with 11 points and tied Stiltner with a game high eight rebounds.
- Centre forced Millsaps into 11-50 shooting from the field, including 2-14 from three-point range. The Centre defense also forced their opponents into 18 turnovers as Rucker recorded a career high five steals.
- The Colonels were solid once again at the free throw line, going 20-24 compared to 14-28 for the Majors.
NEXT UP
Centre will face the winner of the Rhodes/Hendrix matchup in the semifinal round.
