|
01.31.09
-
It was a special day at the Merillat Complex as
the Foresters'
hosted their inaugural
Pink Out event and
recorded two wins on the
day. The NAIA 12th-ranked Foresters downed the visiting Grace
College Lancers 80-63 and raised a total of $2,007 to benefit the
Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer. As part of the Pink
Out festivities, thirty-five breast cancer survivors were honored
during a half-time ceremony with each receiving a Candle of Hope
from the Vera Bradley Foundation.
Playing before the sea
of pink, the two teams went back-and-forth early and were tied 9-9
at the 14:37 mark. A Sarah Miller layup gave HU the lead at
11-9 and ignited a 12-2 run that put the Foresters in front 21-11
with 8:47 to go in the half. Grace then stepped up the defensive
pressure and held the Foresters to just two free throws over the
next four minutes to pull within three at 23-20. HU got a
jumper from Miller and connected on six consecutive free throws to
increase the margin back to nine and headed into the break up 34-28.
Early in the second
half, the Lancers cut it to five on two occasions, but an 11-3 spurt
put the Foresters up 13 at the 12:31 mark. Grace continued to
battle and narrowed the gap to seven with six minutes to play. Over
the next three minutes, HU put together a 9-1 run to finally take
command of the game at 70-55 with 3:13 to play. After Kiera
Gray knocked down two charity tosses for the Lancers, Kayla Skaggs
fouled Courtney Beerbower and then was slapped with a technical foul
on top of it. Grace's bench also got hit with a technical
which put HU at the line for six free throws. Beerbower
drained all six and effectively put the game out of reach.
Lauren Davenport topped
all scorers in the contest with 18 points and eight assists.
Miller finished with 17 points. Beerbower chipped in a
double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds and Kelsey Green
contributed 13 points off the bench. Gray led four Lancers in
double figures with 12 points. Kendall Withered and Kayla
Skaggs both had 11 and Demetria Eley added 10 points and 10 boards.
Grace hit three more
field goals than the Foresters did, but HU won the game at the line
hitting 35 of 41 free throws for 85.4%.
Box Score |
