PORTSMOUTH – Women's basketball snapped its four-game skid with a 72-56 win over Grace College in its first game of the annual Shawnee State Classic. The Bears (5-5) outscored the Lancers 41-25 in the second half after the two squads were tied at the half.
Leading the charge during the second half for the Bears was Alannah Sheets as she scored a career-high 32 points in the victory. Twenty-two of those points came in the second half to as she provided just over half of the SSU offensive in the final 20 minutes. Ali Zieverink also added a double-double in the win as she scored 14 points and added 10 rebounds (seven offensive) to the offensive attack.
The Bears started off the game with the first five points of the contest and led by as many as 11 on two occasions in the opening half as they maintained a 19-8 just under nine minutes into the contest. Leading by 10 with 8:26 to go in the half, Grace battled back to even scoreboard with an 11-1 run to tie the game at 24.
The game would also be tied at four other points in the final minutes of the opening half but Grace held the lead on just two occasions in the half before Diane Abbady would put in the final points of the opening half as the two squads were knotted at 31 when they reached the intermission.
The Lancers would score the opening points to start the second half and maintained a lead for the opening five minutes of the second half. However, Sheets would hit one of her five threes on the night to give the Bears a 42-41 lead they would not relinquish the rest of the evening.
Holding Grace at bay with a slight 48-47 advantage and 13:07 to play, Sheets drained another three to cue a 9-0 run that included a basket from Tabby McKinney and free throws from Catrice Mitchell and Zieverink.
With just over eight minutes to play in the game, the Bears were still holding a 10-point edge but a layup from Zieverink and another three from Sheets would make it a 66-51 game with under five minutes to play. Sheets would break the 30-point mark for the first time in her SSU career with a pair of free throws to give the Bears their largest lead of the night, 70-53, with two minutes to play. She would add two more free throws in the final minutes to give the Bears a 72-56lead at the final buzzer and cap a perfect 7-for-7 night at the free throw line in the process.
Getting to the free throw line proved key for the Bears in the victory as they went 16-of-22 from the charity stripe on the night. Meanwhile, Grace attempted just 11 free throws, making six of those attempts. Shawnee State also held a 42-26 edge in rebounding as the Bears collected 19 total offensive rebounds.
Women's basketball will be back in action tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. against NAIA Division II No. 3 and reigning national champion Indiana Wesleyan. Indiana Wesleyan fell to Georgetown College 60-56 in the opening game of the Shawnee State Classic. Georgetown will host Grace at 12 p.m. in the opening game as the SSU Classic wraps up on Saturday.
