BATESVILLE, AR – The Lyon College women's basketball team defeated the Harris-Stowe State University Hornets 59-50 in the quarterfinals of the American Midwest Conference tournament on Thursday night at Becknell Gymnasium.
Jade Giron led the 23
rd ranked Scots (26-4) with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Paige Kelley added 10 points, while
Allison Byars and
Mari-Hanna Newsom added nine points each.
Katie Turner scored seven points and Mareigh Dodson put in six points for Lyon College and
Kristen Baham added a basket in the victory.
Giron and Turner both scored to put the Scots up 7-0 early in the first quarter. The Hornets (8-17) fought back to within two points, but Byars scored, then Kelley and Giron scored for a 17-7 Lyon lead with 1:20 to go in the first quarter.
Harris-Stowe scored the first nine points of the second quarter to take a 20-17 lead. Newsom made a three-pointer to tie the game at 20-20. Dodson and Kelley both made free throws for a four-point lead and Giron added two more after a Hornets basket to keep the Scots up by four points. Harris-Stowe closed to within one point, 29-28 with 2:29 to go in the first half. Free throws by Giron in the final seconds gave the Scots a 33-28 halftime lead.
Dodson hit a jumper to start the third quarter to go up by seven points and Newsom made a three-pointer to keep the Scots up by five, 40-35. Harris-Stowe got within one point with 3:02 to go in the quarter, 40-39, but Newsom made another three-pointer to put the Scots back up by four points. Harris-Stowe came back to tie the game 43-43 by the end of the third quarter.
The Hornets tied the game at 45-45 and led 47-45 until Kelley scored twice in the lane and Byars made a jumper for a 52-47 Lyon College lead. Harris-Stowe hit a three-pointer to cut the Scots lead to five points, 55-50 with 1:13 to go, but Giron made two free throws and Byars hit both of her free throws with 27 seconds to go to push the Scots lead to nine points.
Lyon College will face the University of Health, Sciences and Pharmacy on Friday night, Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m. at Becknell Arena in the semifinal round.
