by Kenneth Nash
MARYVILLE, Tenn. – The Belhaven Women’s Basketball team grabbed an impressive road win in conference play on Saturday as they took down Maryville College (5-8) 69-63 while playing in the second day of a back-to-back.
The Blazers and Scots traded blows early on in the Saturday afternoon affair as neither team was able to pull away from the other in any meaningful way. After the opening quarter it was the hosts who would lead 21-19.
This game was about the middle two periods for Belhaven though as they flipped their first quarter deficit into a halftime lead in the second quarter. Shantashia John and Xhiir Burgess both played pivotal roles in the first half and 16-11 period put Belhaven on top 35-32 at the midway point.
In the third quarter it was the Belhaven defensive pressure and Maryville offensive woes that helped propel the Blazers further into the lead as they held the Scots to just 7 points in the 10 minute quarter. The smothering frame put the Blazers up by 13 over the hosts as the final quarter started.
It looked as if Belhaven would run away in the end as they continued to build their lead out to 17 points with just 6 minutes to go in the game. Maryville pushed back in the final minutes though and a 13-0 run from the 5:07 mark to the 1:27 mark made it just a two-point game.
The Blazers held strong though and late free throws by Reagan Buchanan, Shantashia John and Kourtne Lee iced Belhaven’s 8th win of the year.
On the day, the Blazers were led by the freshman Shantashia John who finished with 23 points on 7-14 shooting whle pulling down 6 rebounds and providing 4 assists. Xhiir Burgess grabbed another double-double on the day with 18 points on 9-15 shooting while grabbing 12 rebounds. Ebony Gayden also picked up an impressive double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds in 29 minutes of play.
Belhaven shot 42% from the field and 29% from beyond the arc while dominating the paint by winning the rebound battle and the points in the paint battle.
