ANDERSON, S.C. -- The Anderson women's basketball team began the
second half with a 9-2 outburst to break open a close contest and
went on to down Belmont Abbey, 68-42, in the conference opener for
each team Tuesday night at the Abney Athletic Center. Anderson
moved to 1-2 overall and 1-0 in the league in the early-season
conference matchup between two teams selected in the preseason to
tie for third place in the league. Belmont Abbey's record evened at
1-1 and 0-1 in the conference. Both teams open cold offensively
from the field, with the Trojans connecting on just one of its
first 10 attempts, but Belmont Abbey was not much hotter, going
just 4-for-13. The Abbey pushed out to an early 7-2 lead but was
unable to capitalize on AU's drought and the Trojans battled back
to knot the score for the first of four times in the opening half,
at 7-7, on Alexa Neal's turnaround jumper with 12:01 on the clock.
Following a free throw by the Crusaders, junior guard Lauren Beeson
found Neal and her traditional three-point play gave Anderson its
first lead of the night at 10-8. The Trojans edged out to a
five-point lead as Ashley Abed netted one-of-two from the line and
Shanice Wilson nailed a layup, but the Crusaders pulled even less
than two minutes later. With the score tied for the final time of
the night at 17-17, senior forward Korie Sellers collected a
defensive rebound on one end of the court and scored on the other
end from the left side off an assist from Abed, while freshman
Ashley Thornton drove the lane and dropped in a basket to set the
21-17 halftime margin. The Trojans sank four of their first eight
attempts in the second frame and boosted their cushion to 30-19
less than three minutes into the half. "The start of the second
half was the key. It was a total team effort tonight," said
Anderson head coach Jim Brunelli. "I'm proud of the team for
finding a way to win." Neal and Wilson fueled the outburst and the
Trojans went on to hold a 28-point lead late in the contest. Neal
scored a game-high 17 points and handed out five assists, while
Wilson added 10 points and six rebounds. Sellers recorded a
game-high nine rebounds. Anderson has a six-day break for
Thanksgiving, then will get back on the court when non-conference
foe Augusta state invades the Abney Center on Dec. 1, for the third
contest in a four-game homestand. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. Game
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