by Dylan Foley
JACKSON, Miss. – The Belhaven University Women’s basketball team picked up a victory in Collegiate Conference of the South play on Tuesday afternoon, defeating Huntingdon 72-62. With the win, the Blazers improve to 7-3 overall and 3-1 in conference play.
The Blazers came out firing on all cylinders taking a 12-0 advantage four minutes into the first quarter. Huntingdon caught a sparked and leveled the contest at 13 with four minutes to go in the first quarter. Belhaven and Huntingdon exchanged buckets and possessions for the remainder of the first quarter as the Green and Gold held the 19-18 advantage over the Hawks at the end of the quarter.
The visitors outscored the Blazers in the second quarter 19-15 as the Hawks took a 37-34 lead at the halftime break.
The Blazers and Hawks went back and forth for the majority of the third quarter and had multiple lead changes, but the Green and Gold took the 52-49 lead into the final quarter of play.
Belhaven saved their best quarter for the final quarter outscoring the Hawks 20-13 in the quarter to seal the 72-62 victory over Huntingdon.
Shantashia John led the Blazers with 19 points, shot 53.8 % from the field, and played every minute of the game. Xhiir Burgess notched her fifth double-double on the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Allaijah Gamble shot 66.6 percent from the field, 57.1 % from behind the arc, and had a career-high 16 points in the win over the Hawks. Defensively, Ebony Gayden led the way with a team-high 13 rebounds in the contest.
