LOUISVILLE, KY. – The Spalding women's basketball team took sole possession of second place in the SLIAC standings after topping Westminster, 75-69, Saturday afternoon at Columbia Gym.

THE BASICS
THE SCORE: Spalding 75 – Westminster 69
LOCATION: Columbia Gym| Louisville, KY.
RECORDS: Spalding 15-6 (10-2 SLIAC) | Westminster 16-5 (10-5 SLIAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
- In the first quarter, Westminster came out on fire hitting 75 percent from the field and 66 percent from three-point range and used a five-point spurt at the end of the quarter to take 23-13 lead into the second period. In the second quarter, SU still trailed by nine with just under six minutes to play. Freshman Savannah Pinkston got the rim for a layup kick starting a quick 8-2 run capped off by an Alex Martin jumper that cut the deficit to three points. A Hunter Wright layup would eventually cut the margin to two points, but Westmin's Abbie Reece answered with a layup to push the margin back to four points at the break.

- Following a Kendahl Adams jumper to start the third quarter, Martin caught fire scoring 10 points in a 2:41 span as part of a 16-0 Spalding run that put the Golden Eagles in front, 46-36. The Blue Jays would slowly trim the margin over the remainder of the quarter cutting the SU lead to four heading into the final 10 minutes. The Golden Eagles kept the Blue Jays at bay for the early part of the fourth quarter and led by six with just under seven minutes to play. However, a Makayla Jackson layup and Kendal Miller three-pointer cut the lead to just one point with 5:34 remaining. Leading 69-66, with 1:20 to go, Tse Gahagan got in the pocket of Westmin guard Makayla Jackson for steal leading to a Martin layup on the other end to push the margin to five points. The Blue Jays attempted to create opportunities by fouling down the stretch, but Gahagan and Martin we 4-for-4 to seal the win for SU.

NOTABLE STATS
- Alex Martin scored a career-high 35 points while shooting 13-of-22 from the field and 5-of-7 from three-point range. Kendyl Powell had a very efficient game coming off the bench. The sophomore forward scored 12 points and grabbed 5 rebounds in just 11 minutes of action.

- Spalding dominated the turnover battle scoring 26 points off 24 Blue Jay turnovers. The Golden Eagles also got a big boost from their bench outscoring Westminster, 19-8.

FOR THE FOES
- Kendahl Adams led the Blue Jays with 28 points and 6 rebounds, while Mirrakohl Johnson added 16 points.
 
UP NEXT
- The Golden Eagles are back in action Wednesday night, February 6^th at home taking on the Greenville Panthers at Columbia Gym at 6:00 pm EST