Anderson, S.C. – No. 13 Anderson University women's basketball team continued its regular season home streak with its 28th win, defeating South Atlantic Conference opponent UVA-Wise, 66-55, on Saturday afternoon at the friendly confines of the Abney Athletic Center. The Trojans last regular season home loss dates back to the 2017-18 season when the Black and Gold fell, 56-51, to the Bears of Lenoir-Rhyne.
With the victory, Anderson moves to 15-3 overall and 10-2 in SAC play, while the Cavaliers slip to 8-10 overall and 4-8 in conference action.
Senior Alexy Mollenhauer recorded her 10th double-double of the season scoring a game-high 27 points and grabbing a team-high 12 rebounds. Junior Taylor Hair chipped in 10 points while recording seven rebounds for the Black and Gold. Senior Madison Baggett chased down eight rebounds with four being on the offensive glass. Baggett also recorded two steals, two blocked shots and two assists in 28 minutes of action. Sophomore Valencia Carroll netted five points and grabbed five rebounds in nine minutes of play.
UVA-Wise's Nia Vanzant was the lone Cavalier to reach double-digit figures, scoring a team-high 18 points. Vanzant also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
Anderson led, 14-13, after one quarter of action while using a 26 point second period to push the lead to 12 points heading into intermission. Mollenhauer scored 21 of the 40 first half points on 8-of-12 shooting, including 3-of-4 from behind the arc. The native of Lindale, Texas became Anderson's all-time 3rd leading scorer (1,695) leaping over 2009 Trojan Keana Boyd (1,670) and AU's all-time 3rd leading rebounder (831) passing 2005 Trojan Deanna Thompson.
The Trojans outscored UVA-Wise 13-8 during the third stanza. Carroll's three-point shot at the buzzer put Anderson ahead by 17 points with one period left to play.
Anderson built its largest lead of the game, 20 points, on a made three-point basket by senior Makayla Green. Following two made Cavalier foul shots, AU's freshman Nelliah Wilson ripped down an offensive rebound and scored on the put-back to keep the lead at 20. However, UVA-Wise closed out the game with a 9-0 run to set the final scoring margin to 11, 66-55.
"Always great to win a home game, said head coach Jonathon Barbaree. "As a team, it's time to lock in and start making a move. We'll get hard at it on Monday and start just that."
Anderson remain at home to square off with SAC opponent Queens on Wednesday. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 pm at the Abney Athletic Center.
