SEWANEE, Tenn. –
Hannah Cleveland netted 22 points and
Olivia Falvey added 17, but LaGrange College's put together an 11-3 run in the fourth quarter to break open the game en route to an 84-76 victory over the Tigers on Sunday in the SAA-CCS Classic in Demorest, Ga.
LaGrange (2-1) turned 25 Tigers miscues into 22 points and Laila Battle scored a game-high 27 points along with 24 points from teammate Amanda McLendon.
Sewanee (1-2) fell behind early and trailed for much of the contest, though LaGrange's lead stayed in the 6-8 point range for the majority of the game.
The Tigers trailed 13-5 in the first four minutes of the contest and opened the second quarter with a 7-2 run that included a 3-pointer from Cleveland and consecutive baskets by
Grace Gavin for a 23-22 edge. Battle, Alexandria Burk and Adazha Burrell each made triples for the Panthers, stretching their lead to 33-27.
Sewanee ended the period with a 9-2 spurt, with Falvey and
Cydney Wright posting all nine points, including a 3-pointer by Falvey, closing the gap to 41-39 at intermission.
Cleveland and
Janie Boyd started the second half with triples for the biggest lead of the game for the Tigers, 45-41, and the contest was tied at 49 after two free throws by
Micha Lovelace four minutes into the third quarter.
LaGrange put together a 9-2 run over the next three minutes, with baskets by Burrell and McClendon and two field goals from Battle. Kyra Ware's bucket and an old-fashioned 3-point play from Battle stretched the Panthers advantage to 63-54 headed to the fourth quarter.
Falvey opened the final period with a triple and Gavin added a basket as well, pulling the Tigers within four, before an 11-3 spurt by the Panthers pushed their lead to 12 points. McLendon netted six of her 24 points and Battle ended the stretch with a 3-pointer. Sewanee never got closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Wright finished with 10 points and she and Cleveland each pulled down seven rebounds. Boyd collected 11 points, with the Sewanee starters combining for 62 of the team's 76 points. Berk was the only other LaGrange player in double figures with 12 points.
