ANDERSON, S.C. -With six made 3-pointers from senior sharpshooter Lesley Woods, top-seeded Anderson University women's basketball fended off eighth-seeded Mars Hill with a 67-52 victory in the opening round of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament Wednesday evening at the Abney Athletic Center.
With the triumph, the Trojans have won their 17th straight game and improve to 24-3 on the season as they advance to the SAC Tournament semifinals for third consecutive season. MHU, which entered the postseason for the first time since the 2010-11 season, closes its campaign with an 11-17 overall record.
With her six treys, Woods paced the Black and Gold with 18 points on 6-for-11 from behind the arc, as she sits a 3-pointer away from tying former standout Keana Boyd for second place on the all-time 3-pointers made list with 237 career 3-pointers made. For Woods, the six-trey game marks her third straight game with at least four made 3-pointers.
Following Woods was junior forward Jasmine Franklin with 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds, as she led the Trojans to 38 total rebounds for the contest. Substitute Katie Davis dropped in a season-high 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting underneath the basket.
The Lions were led by All-SAC First Team selection Camille Glymph with a game-high 19 points on 6-for-21 shooting from the field. Glymph was the lone MHU player in double figures, as the guard contributed to 36.5 percent of the team's scoring for the evening. Teammates Cadence Wilmoth and Paige Chavis added nine and eight points, respectively, while Genice Lane grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
After junior forward Jennifer Monroe scored on a jumper to open the game's scoring, AU never looked back as it led for remainder of the game. Following the basket, the Trojans out-scored the Lions 14-6 and took their first double-figure lead at the 12:43 mark when Davis buried a jumper inside the paint for her first points of the evening.
Mars Hill would come no closer than seven for the remainder of the period, as the Black and Gold took their largest lead of the half of 17 when Davis knocked in another jumper off a pass from sophomore Alexis Dillard, pushing the score to 33-16 with 6:30 remaining.
Following the Davis bucket, Mars Hill began to chip away at its deficit and out-scored the hosts 9-2 for the remainder of the half. Glymph began the run by the Lions with a 3-pointer for three of her 11 first-half points, as MHU set the halftime score at 35-26 with a jumper from Wilmoth just before the one-minute mark.
The Lions scored the first four points of the second half and cut Anderson's lead to five at 35-30 in the opening two minutes. Franklin broke the scoring drought with a lay-in which began an 8-2 run that gave Anderson another double-figure advantage at 43-33.
After Mars Hill cut the lead to within eight on a Wilmoth lay-in, Anderson rattled off six straight points capped off by Woods 3-pointer to give the top seed its largest lead of the half of 14 at 54-40. From there, AU never relinquished its double-digit lead and held MHU to just 12 points in the final eight minutes.
With Anderson's third victory over Mars Hill this season, it advances to the SAC Tournament semifinals where it will meet fourth-seeded Catawba on Saturday from Furman's Timmons Arena in Greenville. Tip-off is slated for noon.
