College women’s basketball: Catawba knocks off Lenoir-Rhyne

Published 12:40 am Thursday, January 29, 2015

SALISBURY — Jada Huntley scored 30 points and pulled down eight rebounds as Catawba’s women’s basketball team held off Lenoir-Rhyne 80-72 on Wednesday at Goodman Gym.

Catawba (10-8, 7-6 SAC) dominated the first half of the league contest, using 17 points by Huntley to build a 44-28 cushion.

But Lenoir-Rhyne (6-11, 5-8 SAC) made two serious charges after the break.

The first push by the Bears came immediately after halftime, as they outscored Catawba 16-7 to get within 51-44. Huntley hit a jumper to stop that surge.

The Bears had momentum again late in the game and sliced Catawba’s lead to 67-65 with five minutes left on a layup by Morgan Cooper, who led Lenoir-Rhyne with 20 points.

Bri Johnson’s clutch jumper stopped the Bears’ run with 3:56 remaining, and Terri Rogers made a layup to push the Indians’ lead back to six.

Catawba was good at the foul line to close things out, with Huntley and Serena Brown knocking down key free throws.

Rogers had 13 points and 12 rebounds for the sixth-place Indians. Johnson scored 11.

Lenoir-Rhyne outshot the Indians, but Catawba doubled the Bears in offensive rebounds.

Catawba travels to Carson-Newman on Saturday.

LENOIR-RHYNE (72): Cooper 20, Hiatt 14, Charles 11, Robinson 10, Ritchie 10, Young 4, Gust 3.

CATAWBA (80):  Huntley 30, Rogers 12, Johnson 11, Bully 9, S. Brown 6, Tamasauskaite 4, Greer 4, Newbold 2, Hodges 2, Dixon, Ucinksi, Richardson.

L-Rhyne          28    44             72

Catawba         44    36           —   80