Leavell Lifts Golden Eagles Past Blackburn
The Lady Golden Eagles breezed past Blackburn College 78-47 Thursday night. Spalding’s defense overwhelmed Blackburn from the beginning forcing the Beavers into 24 turnovers. Melinda Leavell led Spalding scorers with 27 points.
Blackburn scored first on a driving layup by Brina Rae taking a 2-0 lead. Tesha Wright scored Spalding’s first points, tying the game 2. Megan Davis hit two free throws giving the Lady Golden Eagles a 4-2 lead. Kirsten Hayes increased Spalding’s lead to 5, hitting a three pointer from corner at the 16:54 mark in the first half. Spalding increased their lead to 10 with a floater by Tesha Wright, and a Melinda Leavell three pointer from the wing. Blackburn responded with a 7-0 run making the score 12-9, but Tesha Wright hit a pull jumper in the lane to put Spalding back up 14-9. The Lady Golden Eagles forced two quick turnovers, resulting in layups by Wright and Kristen Baker, giving Spalding an 18-9 lead with 9:47 to play in the first. After a defensive stop, Leavell hit a deep three pushing Spalding’s lead to 12. Spalding pushed their lead to 14 on two technical free throws by Leavell. Blackburn made it 23-11 on a jumper in the lane, but Lindsey Roarx hit runner extending Spalding’s lead back to 14. Two Blackburn free throws made it 25-13 with 7:24 to play in the first. Spalding went on an impressive 19-4 to end the half. The run was fueled by a five Leavell three pointers. Spalding led 44-17 at halftime. Melinda Leavell had a monster first half, knocking down 7 of 11 three pointers, and scoring 23 points.
Jessica kept things going in the second half, knocking down a jumper on Spalding’s first possession in the second half making the score 46-16. Blackburn went on a 5-2, but it was overshadowed by a technical foul resulting in two free throws for Spalding. Jessica Guy made jumper on Spalding’s next possession putting Spalding up 52-21 with 16:32 left to play. Blackburn wouldn’t get within 30 the rest of the game. The Lady Golden Eagles next home game is Saturday January 21st against Greenville College at 1:00pm.
