Virginia Beach, VA- In the first game of a Saturday doubleheader, the Regent Women's Basketball team faced off against Warren Wilson College out of Swannanoa, North Carolina. Despite the late-night snowstorm that covered Virginia Beach on Friday night, the Owls made their way up I-85 via Route 58 to face the Royals for their first match up of the 2024-2025 season.
Regent opened up the scoring in the first quarter with Sophomore My'Angel Carter (Toccoa, GA) grabbing her first offensive rebound of the game and an old fashion three-point play in the paint. Senior Courtney Rowley (Lusk, WY) followed that with a pull-up three of her own, from the top of the key. Rowley and Carter's first quarter performance was also supplemented by Senior Lyriq Reyes' (Bogota, NJ) nine points which helped keep the game close. Warren Wilson and the Royals headed into the second quarter with Regent trailing, 21-19.
The Royals turned their defensive pressure up in the second quarter, and successfully forced the Owls into offensive turnovers allowing Regent to grab the momentum. The second quarter mirrored the first quarter in nearly every way, with Rowley, Carter, and Reyes complementing each other well on the court with their respective play styles. The Royals headed into halftime only down a single point to the Owls.41-40.
The third quarter began with a back and forth scoring battle. Rowley continued her expected outpouring of threes, cementing herself once again in the Regent record books with the third most three pointers in school history. However, the Royals would fall into foul trouble, and they concluded the quarter with just four players on the court.
The fourth quarter unfortunately ended early. Reyes was fouled hard on her layup attempt to the basket, which ended her contest early as she made her way to the trainers room to treat her injury. Unfortunately, Rowley, Carter, and Freshman Kaitlyn Russell (Fredericksburg, VA) all fouled out halfway into the fourth quarter which ended the game early, as Regent fell by a final score of 87-65.
Rowley finished the game with a career high 27 points (6 three-pointers) and 7 rebounds, while Reyes added 19 points to go along with her perfect 9-9 performance from the free throw line.
The Royals will be back in action on Saturday, January 18th as they host Carolina University in the first game of another doubleheader. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:30pm.
