Posted: Mar 16, 2016
- Roberts Wesleyan fended off a few rallies to win their opener at the NCCAA Division I national tournament in Indiana over Bethesda University (CA), 77-68, on Wednesday. The second-seeded Redhawks held the seventh-seeded Flames to 26% from the field while never trailing but the victory wasn’t particularly easy. Samantha Courtney (23 points, 9 bards, 10-18 FG), Ajia McIntyre (19 points, more than double her previous career-high) and Brooke Fields (16 points, 12-15 FT) led the way for RWC as they raced to early leads of 13-2 and 22-7. The Redhawks held a 22-10 edge after one period but Bethesda (14-13) bounced back to close the gap to 39-36 by the half. The Flames kept on pushing and eventually tied the game twice in the third period at 39 and 43 (the latter with 5:52 to play in the stanza). Lucy Covley’s three-pointer snapped the last deadlock and launched RWC on 15-2 run over a four-minute span to take a lead they never relinquished (58-45, 1:54). Bethesda stayed in it and eventually sliced the arrears to 66-64 with 4:43 remaining yet the RWC lead proved too much to overcome. Good work at the line in the final minute (5-6 FT) secured the win for the Redhawks. RWC took advantage of more trips to the stripe (20-31 FT; Bethesda 11-16 FT), balancing off a hefty 59-40 rebound bulge for the Flames. As part of their board superiority the Flames hauled in 26 offensive caroms (RWC had eight), leading to 28 more shots (90-62 FGA). Bethesda also relied on the long-ball to mixed results (11-48 3FG; 12-42 2FG). Jonalynn Fuertes (22 points, 6-17 3FG) and Ahteana Jones (10 points) topped the Flames scoring while Aunjanay Chambers (8 points, 15 rebounds) and DonQuenae Townsend (11 rebounds) led the glass troops. Roberts Wesleyan, which shot 44% overall and went 3-12 from three-point land, moves on to the winner’s bracket where they will face #6 seed Northwestern (MN) tomorrow afternoon.