LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Spalding University women's basketball team ride a big first half to roll past Blackburn, 77-59, Wednesday night at Derek Smith Gymnasium. The Golden Eagles improve to 5-10 on the season and 3-4 in conference play, while Blackburn drops to 1-12 and 0-6 in SLIAC play.  

THE BASICS
THE SCORE: Spalding 77 – Blackburn 52
LOCATION: Derek Smith Gymnasium, Louisville, Ky.   
RECORD: Spalding 5-10 (3-4 SLIAC), Blackburn 1-12 (3-4 SLIAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Golden Eagles raced out to an early 15-6 lead following a Mackenzie Myers jumper and never looked back. A huge second quarter for SU put the game away outscoring the Beavers 25-9. An Alex Martin layup in transition pushed the margin to 22 points heading into halftime. Blackburn opened the second half with a 5-0 spurt cutting the lead to 17 on a Kate Smith 3-pointer with 8:25 to play in the third quarter. However, SU quickly responded pushing the lead back to 20 points on an Allison Just layup. A Kendyl Powell layup with 23 seconds to play would send SU into the fourth quarter leading by 25. Spalding would extend the margin to as many as 28 points in the fourth quarter as they rolled to a 77-52 victory.

- Alex Martin paced the Golden Eagles with 26 points and seven rebounds. Mackenzie Myers went 5-of-9 from the field scoring 10 points and pulling down seven rebounds. Lelanda Matthews led Spalding on the boards pulling down a team-high nine rebounds.

- A key factor for SU earning the victory was winning the turnover battle. The Golden Eagles forced 25 Beaver turnovers leading to a 28-15 margin in points off turnovers.  

FOR THE FOES
- Jenna Dudra led Blackburn with 10 points, while Gariel Pierce recorded a game-high 13 rebounds.  

UP NEXT
- The Golden Eagles return to action Saturday, January 13 on the road at Greenville University. Tipoff is 2:00 pm EST at H.J. Long Gymnasium in Greenville, Ill.