Lady Cavs Fight Tough but Fall to Top Seed Tornado

February 28, 2008
BOXSCORE

Bristol, Tenn. – The UVa-Wise women’s hoops team gave top seeded King College all it could handle before bowing out of the Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament quarterfinals Thursday night. Brittany Maxwell pumped in 24 points for the Lady Cavs only to see the Tornado gain enough breathing room in the final nine minutes for a 72-62 victory.

Maxwell continued her outstanding late season play for UVa-Wise (6-26) with her third 20-point game in a row. The sophomore guard hit nine of 14 attempts and all eight of her free throws for 24 points, a game best total. Lauren Jervis and Meghan Rutherford added eight points apiece.

King College (20-10) received 13 points from Amanda Holmes and 11 apiece by Kayla Olson and Beth Raby.

Following a Maxwell field goal, the Lady Cavs led the contest for over 12 minutes of the first half with a margin of as many as six points twice, the last being 33-27 on a Rutherford bucket at 3:03. The Tornado finished strong on an 8-2 spurt for a tied 35-35 intermission tally.

After a King basket, Mindy Carter tied the affair at 37-37 for UVa-Wise in the opening two minutes of the latter stanza. The Tornado pushed the advantage up to six points before the Lady Cavs cut the difference down to a single point, 47-46, on two Maxwell free throws at 11:02.

King scored the next nine of 11 points to build a 56-48 lead and would never lead by less than seven points over the final nine minutes until winning 72-62.