BRISTOL, Tenn. – The UNC Pembroke women's basketball team used 52 points from its bench and a put back layup as time expired from Kalaya Hall to help the Braves to a 73-71 victory over King on Thursday afternoon inside the Student Center Complex.
 
The Braves (4-6, 3-1 CC) trailed by as many as 14 heading into the fourth quarter and only held the lead of the game for 12:38. The Tornado (2-9, 2-2 CC ) were leading the game for over 50 percent of the contest, and have now lost their last four contests.  




 

THE BASICS

SCORE: UNC Pembroke 73, King 71 RECORDS: UNC Pembroke 4-6, 3-1 CC; King 2-9, 2-2 CC LOCATION: Bristol, Tenn. (Student Center Complex)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST QUARTER

UNC Pembroke connected on 50 percent of its attempts from the field in the opening period and took an early 8-2 run after a driving layup from Alcenia Purnell with just over five minutes remaining in the opening period. The Braves pushed their lead out to 17-9 after a jumper in the paint from Courtney Smith, and held a 19-13 advantage heading into the second quarter.

2ND QUARTER

UNCP continued to pad its lead, 23-16, after a pair of free throws from Kelci Adams with 7:48 left in the first half. King went on a 14-0 run and took its first lead of the afternoon, 30-23, after a pair of free throws from Jordan Weir with 1:10 left in the quarter. Courtney Smith drained a jumper with 40 seconds on the clock, but the Braves trailed 31-26 as the teams headed into the locker rooms.

3RD QUARTER

The Braves trimmed their deficit back to 39-37 after back-to-back layups from Courtney Smith and Malea Garrison halfway through the period. The Tornado used a 15-0 run would give them their largest lead of the afternoon, 54-40 with 71 seconds remaining in the quarter. Zaria Clark drained a pair of free throws to end the quarter, as UNCP trailed 54-42 heading into the final stanza.

4TH QUARTER

An 8-0 scoring surge capped off with a driving layup from Courtney Smith knotted the score at 63 apiece with 3:29 left in regulation. Courtney Smith gave UNC Pembroke a 71-70 lead with a pair of free throws with 27 seconds on the clock, followed by Tori Smiley picking up a foul where she made one of her two free throw attempts. Lillian Flantos attempted a jumper inside the paint that didn't fall with five seconds on the clock, but Kalaya Hall's put back layup as time expired sealed the victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Courtney Smith scored a career and game-high 26 points highlighted by a 10-for-14 clip from the charity stripe. Smith nearly registered a double-double with seven boards, while also adding a pair of assists and a block. + Malea Garrison came off of the bench for a career-best 15 points on 5-for-12 shooting. The redshirt sophomore also just missed a double-double pulled down a team-high eight rebounds, four of which were on the offensive glass.  + Zaria Clark added eight points and four defensive rebounds, with Alcenia Purnell provided seven points, two assists and a block. Kalaya Hall also had seven points and pulled down four rebounds as well.

NOTABLES

+ UNC Pembroke dominated the inside game scoring 30 points inside the paint, while King was limited to just 16 points on the inside.  + Both teams combined to shoot 57 free throws. + The Black & Gold logged 13 offensive rebounds which helped them to 20 second chance points. The Tornado only registered eight offensive boards and had just nine second chance points.  + UNCP has now won the last two contests against King, and is 2-0 when playing in Bristol.

UP NEXT

The Braves will continue their road trip on Saturday when they face Lees-McRae (0-9, 0-5 CC) in Banner Elk. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. inside Williams Gymnasium.

STAY CONNECTED

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BACK THE BRAVES

Fans can help support the UNC Pembroke Women's Basketball program by joining the Braves Club. To find out more information about the Braves Club, visit UNCPBraves.com/BravesClub or email braves.club@uncp.edu.