SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Converse University women's basketball team overcame a slow start in the opening quarter and defeated Erskine 60-45 on Tuesday afternoon.
"I'm definitely excited to get my first win at Converse," head women's basketball coach
Samantha Davidson said. "I thought we shot the ball well and I was really happy to see our effort for 40-minutes. Hopefully we can add to it with many more."
Converse (1-3, 1-1 Conference Carolinas) won the opening tip-off and scored on the first possession of the game off a
Jordan Brown (McCormick, S.C.) basket. Moments later Alliee Patillo (Douglasville, Ga.) hit a corner three-pointer and the Valkyries led 5-0. Neither team scored again until the 4:12 mark of the period when Anzya Cook scored the first basket of the game for Erskine (0-4, 0-2 Conference Carolinas). The first quarter ended in a 5-5 tie with neither team scoring in the final three-minutes of game time.
In the second quarter
Zahra Cross (Austin, Texas) tied the game at 7-7 with 8:21 to play in the half. The basket was the first field goal made by the Valkyries in nearly nine-minutes of game time. The Cross basket jump started the Converse offense as the Valkyries went on a 14-0 run over the next six-minutes of game time. Patillo scored another three-pointer with 22 seconds to go in the half and the Valkyries led 26-12 at the halftime break.
Erskine opened up the third quarter on a 7-0 run before
Sydney Wilson (Henderson, Tenn.) stopped the run with a layup at the 7:05 mark. With 4:55 to play in the period,
Ayanna Parker (Stafford, Va.) connected on a three-pointer to give the Valkyries a 34-24 advantage. The Valkyries offense stayed aggressive throughout the quarter and Brown finished the third period on a personal 5-0 run to give the Valkyries momentum late in the game.
In the final quarter of action, the Valkyries kept the offense going and led by as many as 18 in the final period of gameplay. Brown led the team in both points scored (12) and rebounds (7). Patillo finished second on the team with 11-points and
Lindsey Hardin (Inman, S.C.) finished with an even 10-points in the win.
Eva Carballo (Madrid, Spain) led the team with nine assists against the Flying Fleet on Tuesday night.
Next Up:
The Valkyries will be back in action on Sunday afternoon against Johnson & Wales, the game is scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. tipoff.
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