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MONTICELLO – The University of Arkansas at Monticello women's basketball team converted on 84 percent of its 32 free throw attempts and scored 29 points off 23 turnovers to highlight a 71-66 victory over Southern Nazarene at home on Saturday afternoon.
The win snaps a 12-game losing skid for the Cotton Blossoms (6-16, 2-14 Great American Conference).
Southern Nazarene (10-12, 7-9 GAC) started the first half shooting near 80 percent for the first five minutes and built a six-point lead at the 14:40 mark. SNU's high-percentage shooting fell off an UAM gained its first lead of the game at the 12:24 mark on a pair of free throws from sophomore Tamia Grady.
SNU led for about a three-minute stretch before UAM regained the lead for the final time in the first half with a three-pointer from sophomore Jordan Goforth at the 9:09 mark. UAM used a 9-0 run to gain a double-digit lead with another pair of free throws from Grady to put her team up 31-20 with 4:53 reamining in the half. UAM later led by as much as 12 points in the first half.
SNU closed out the final 3:30 of the first half on a 7-2 scoring run to cut UAM's lead to seven points (38-31) at halftime following a layup at the buzzer from UAM sophomore Nikki Mullen to snap that SNU run.
The Crimson Storm rallied back to regain the lead at the 12-minute mark of the second half and maintained that lead until the final two minutes when UAM rattled off an 11-2 run to regain the lead on a pair of free throws from senior Raija McWright with 1:40 remaining.
SNU made one final surge to grab a one-point lead with just over one minute remaining, but the Blossoms made six free throws in the final 40 seconds to seal the win.
The Blossoms finished the game shooting 41 percent from the field (20-for-49) and 50 percent on three-pointers (4-for-8). SNU shot 45 percent from the field (25-for-56), 44 percent on three-pointers (7-for-16) and 82 percent on foul shots (9-for-11).
Goforth led all scorers with 23 points on an 8-for-17 shooting night and 5-for-5 outing on the line. Grady finished with 14 points, highlighted by a perfect 10-for-10 outing at the free throw line. McWright also reached double-digits with 11 points.
Aminata Fall paced SNU with 14 points.
The Blossoms are back in action Thursday night (Feb. 20) at home against Arkansas Tech. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. inside Steelman Field House.
