Roanoke, VA – The Regent University Women's Basketball team was back on the road Saturday afternoon for their 2nd away game in a row. Today's match-up was with Hollins University, out of the ODAC. The Royals are no strangers to ODAC teams, as they were looking to get their first win over one today. After a tough loss on Friday, they were ready to come out and secure a win.
The Royals started off fast in the first quarter as Junior Jabarria Brown (Paterson, NJ) drove in the paint for a layup and the early lead, 2-0. However, Hollins had an answer, scoring ten straight points to take an eight-point advantage. Brown would stop the Hollins run with a three-pointer and that was followed by a basket from Junior Nevaeh Ivory (Charlottesville, VA). Senior Kali Murrell (Long Beach, CA) converted four free throws to end the quarter only trailing, 15-11.
The second quarter saw Hollins convert a steal into a fast break basket and then follow that up with another basket, to make the score 19-11. They would continue to score and eventually Regent found themselves down by double digits. Ivory was able to get the Royals some offensive momentum after converting a free throw and at the 2:27 mark she drove to the basket to keep her team within striking distance. With a few seconds remaining, Brown hit a step back jumper to end the half with Regent behind 31-17.
Murrell drained a three-pointer to begin the third quarter and after an Ivory layup the Royals were only down 33-23. However, Hollins would, once again, go on a run and were able to increase their lead to 50-29. Another Ivory layup stopped the momentum and then she would make a free throw, along with two from Murrell to chip away at the Hollins advantage. Unfortunately, as the clock hit zero for the quarter, Regent found themselves down 57-38.
As the fourth quarter began, Brown hit a layup and a few plays later, was fouled on a three-pointer, allowing her to make three straight free throws. She would do it again, this time converting two more free throws and, all of a sudden, the Royals were clicking on offense. While they continued to make their shots, Hollins was doing the same, making it difficult to make any runs and as the buzzer sounded, Regent would fall by a final score of 83-67.
The Royals were led by Brown who finished with a game high 31 points, to go along with her 8 rebounds, 5 steals and three assists. In addition, Junior Courtney Rowley (Lusk, WY) led the team with 15 rebounds, while as a team, they forced 15 turnovers and had 20 points in the paint. Regent will be back in action on Saturday, January 27th as they travel to Longwood University. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00pm.
