LA PLUME, Pa. – Spalding women's basketball traveled to Pennsylvania this past weekend to participate in the Keystone Tip-off Tournament. SU grabbed a win over Keuka, 62-35.
The Golden Eagles moved to 1-2 on the season, while the Wolves fell to 1-3.
TURNING POINT
Spalding opened the game on a 6-0 run thanks to baskets by
Alyssa Hitch,
Zaneiya Batiste, and
Isis Rodgers. The Wolves answered back with five quick points of their own before the SU defense went on full lockdown. The Golden Eagles allowed zero points through the rest of the quarter and went into the second quarter ahead 21-5.
The defensive momentum continued for Spalding into the second quarter as
Ma'Kaylia Lute blocked a Keuka shot, leading to a basket by Hitch to extend the lead to 18. Later in the quarter,
Riana Caldwell pushed the Golden Eagles further ahead with a fastbreak layup to go up 30-8 over the Wolves. The teams traded baskets as the half came to a close with Spalding ahead 38-15.
The third quarter started out slow as neither side could find the bottom of the net consistently. The Golden Eagles got rolling as the period progressed though, with
Sydney Raque and Batiste hitting baskets in quick succession to make the score 45-18. Caldwell followed these buckets with a clutch steal on defense and an outlet pass to
Nicole Hollowell. Hollowell then found
Maelyn Ridener who nailed a long range bomb to extend the SU lead to 30 with five minutes left in the quarter. Keuka fought back a little, but could not put much of a dent into the Spalding advantage as the game went into the final quarter with SU ahead 52-24.
The fourth quarter started similar to the third, with neither team able to score for the first two and a half minutes. Hollowell grabbed a rebound and found Lute cutting to the basket to finally take the metaphorical lid off the hoop. Spalding's defense still held firm, not allowing the Wolves to cut into the lead at all. A block by Caldwell was rebounded by
Landrie Smith. This led to a layup by Hollowell on the other end, giving SU their biggest lead of the night with a layup to go ahead 59-28. Hollowell continued her fourth quarter dominance as she put a cap on the Golden Eagle night with a jumper assisted by
Gabby Douglass. SU brought home the victory in Pennsylvania, 62-35.
GOLDEN EAGLE NOTES
- SU grabbed their first win of the season.
- Zaneiya Batiste snagged 16 rebounds, ranking her third nationally in rebounds per game.
- Spalding held the Wolves to just 19.6% shooting.
- The Golden Eagles tallied 44 points in the paint.
NEXT FOR SPALDING
Spalding will return to action on Wednesday, November 20th. SU will travel to Centre College. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
