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January 11, 2009

Raven women pull away from Yellow Jackets

By George Bremer, Herald Bulletin Sports Writer

ANDERSON — A return to Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play proved to be just what the Anderson University women’s basketball team needed.

The Ravens (6-7 overall, 4-1 HCAC) broke a three-game losing streak with a 58-51 victory against Defiance (6-8, 2-4) on Saturday afternoon at O.C. Lewis Gym.

The rough-and-tumble contest featured 31 personal fouls and an assortment of bumps and bruises. But AU coach Marcie Taylor said that’s just fine with the Ravens.

“It was a physical game,” Taylor said. “But a physical game plays in our favor.”

Anderson primarily used two big runs to pull away from the Lady Jackets and remain in a second-place tie in the HCAC standings.

The first run came after a slow start left the Ravens in an early 10-2 hole. AU answered with a 17-6 spurt, keyed by six points from Mel Hawthorne. The run started with three straight layups by Ellen Thompson, Hawthorne and Lauren Leisure.

Defiance’s Katie Carunchia stopped the bleeding with a 3-pointer, but Hawthorne followed with a jumper and Thompson’s ensuing layup cut the Lady Jackets’ lead to 13-12.

Defiance again answered with a 3-pointer, this time by Katie McNamara, to push its cushion back to four. Hawthorne hit a jumper to slice the deficit in half, and Tiffany Bowsher’s layup tied the game with 8:26 remaining in the first half.

Mandy Seward hit a free throw 17 seconds later to give the Ravens their first lead, and AU never trailed again. Bowsher finished the run with a jumper and a layup to put the Ravens ahead 21-16.

Hawthorne finished with a game-high 14 points, and Bowsher added 12 points and 10 rebounds.

“Mel’s one of our players who can create her own shot,” Taylor said. “When the defense is overplaying us, she can make things happen and take people off the dribble.”

After the Lady Jackets cut the lead to 29-27 at the half, Hawthorne started AU’s second half scoring with a 3-pointer. Shavonda Price answered with a layup for Defiance, but Kayla Martin’s layup and a 3-pointer from Leisure gave the Ravens a 37-29 advantage.

Carunchia cut into the lead with a 3-pointer, but Martin responded with a traditional three-point play at the other end of the floor. Price and Hawthorne then traded layups before Martin connected on a jumper to give AU a 44-34 lead with 12:07 to play.

Martin scored all 11 of her points in the second half and added a game-high 11 rebounds.

“She was struggling a little bit in the first half,” Taylor said. “But we encouraged her to stay a part of the mix. We told her not to try to force anything and to let the offense come to her.”

Another Martin jumper gave the Ravens their biggest lead of the game at 50-39 with 6:25 remaining, and AU coasted to the finish from there.

Seward led a tough defensive effort with seven steals, and she also dished out a game-high eight assists.

The win kept Anderson in a second-place tie with Franklin, just a half-game behind conference leader Transylvania.

“We’re in a good spot,” Taylor said. “We’ve played on the road a lot in our non-conference schedule, and we’ve played a lot of quick teams. I think that’s going to help us down the road in the conference schedule.”

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