MONTICELLO – Junior guard Alex Hart had a season-high 24 points to lead the University of Arkansas at Monticello women’s basketball team to a 70-62 win over Christian Brothers on Saturday at home in the first Gulf South Conference game of the season.
Hart was 6-of-9 from the field, including one three-pointer, and was 11-of-15 on foul shots. She shared the game’s leading point total with Christian Brothers’ Sheena Debose, who was 10-of-20 from the field and 4-of-5 at the foul line.
The Cotton Blossoms (5-8, 1-0 GSC) and Lady Bucs (7-6, 0-1 GSC) started the game exchanging baskets through the first three minutes, before UAM used an 8-2 scoring run to take a 13-6 lead with 15:10 remaining in the opening period.
That lead stretched to 10 points at the 6:59 mark of the first half on an 8-0 run, capped by a jump shot by Hart. The Cotton Blossoms again gained a 10-point lead at the 1:17 mark of the first half, and with Hart’s three-pointer at the buzzer, UAM took an 11-point lead of 37-26 into halftime.
In the second half, UAM earned its largest lead of the contest in the first two minutes on a three-pointer by junior Chelsea Johnson and a foul shot by junior Channon Haywood to give the team a 15-point lead of 41-26.
The Lady Bucs did not let up, and even created the game’s first tie at the 4:18 mark of the second half on a Ty Harris jumper after outscoring UAM 19-7 over the previous seven minutes.
UAM responded by outscoring CBU 11-3 over the final minutes to seal its fifth straight victory over the Lady Bucs.
The Cotton Blossoms finished the game shooting 41 percent from the field (26-of-63), 19 percent on three-pointers (4-of-21) and 70 percent on foul shots (14-of-20). The Lady Bucs shot 42 percent from the field (23-of-55), 36 percent on three-pointers (4-of-11) and 80 percent on foul shots (12-of-15).
Haywood and Johnson also reached double-digits for UAM with 15 and 12 points, respectively. Caitlin House and Normanique Johnson also reached double-digits for CBU with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
The Cotton Blossoms remain in Monticello for their next game, a 5:30 p.m. tipoff against Henderson State this coming Thursday, January 13 inside Steelman Field House.
