Franklin Springs, GA – The Emmanuel Women's Basketball team hosted the Southern Wesleyan University Warriors tonight in conference action. After a competitive first quarter, the Lions took the lead in the second and controlled the pace of the game the rest of the way to win, 80-67. With the win, the Lions improve to 7-12 on the season, 6-6 in conference play.
The first quarter saw the Warriors take an early 4-2 lead. The Lions responded well with key plays by
Abby Crawford and
Maddie Futch to tie things at 9-9. The Lions were held to 4-14 shooting in the quarter but connected on 5-6 from the free throw line. After the first, the Warriors led 16-14.
In the second quarter, the Lions offense started clicking. After trading points and the lead for the first several minutes, a three-pointer by
Lizzie Teasley with 5:52 to play gave the Lions a 25-23 lead. The Lions were 9-15 from the field in the quarter and 3-5 from three-point range.
Natalee Goff closed out the quarter with back-to-back three balls to give the Lions a 37-31 lead at the half.
The Lions opened up the third quarter with Futch and Crawford continuing to control things offensively, helping the Lions to an 14-point lead with 5:13 to play.
Naomi Roberts and
Ade'Jah James got in on the scoring late in the quarter to push the Lions lead up to 15 to end the third, 62-47. The Lions were 8-12 from the field (67%) in the quarter and 8-9 from the foul line.
The Warriors cut the Lions lead to seven points early in the fourth quarter, going on an 11-2 run to make it 64-57. A few key plays from
Naomi Roberts helped the Lions push their lead back up to double digits and
Ade'Jah James closed out the game with back-to-back jumpers to earn the Lions an 80-67 win.
Three Lions ended the night in double figures scoring, with
Naomi Roberts leading the way with 20 points and 3 assists.
Abby Crawford added 18 points on the afternoon, with
Maddie Futch contributing a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Next up, the Lions will travel to Pembroke, NC to play the University of Pembroke on Saturday at 2PM. For more information on Emmanuel University athletics, visit goeulions.com.
