Box Score A rematch of last year's Great Midwest Athletic Conference championship game awaited the Kentucky Wesleyan women's basketball team in this year's semifinals.
Brittany Wells led the way with 14 points and KWC shook off a 13-6 Trevecca second half run to advance to the G-MAC championship game for a second year in a row, 71-66. The win gave KWC 20 victories for the third season in a row.
The first half was back-and forth, with neither team leading by more than eight points. The Panthers gained the advantage late in the half and went to the locker room with a 33-27 lead.
KWC opened the second half on a 6-0 run to stretch the lead to 39-27. Trevecca would chip the lead down to two on several different occasions, but the Panthers held the lead until the 6:39 mark when the Trojans tied the game at 56.
A pair of
Jennifer Walker-Crawford free throws made the score 58-56 in favor of KWC. Trevecca responded with a three-pointer and the Panthers trailed 59-58 with 5:44 left in the game.
Walker-Crawford would give the Panthers the lead again with a jumper 22 seconds later to make it 60-59. That jumper started an 8-0 run by KWC, including a layup from
Sydney Morabito and free throws from Walker-Crawford and
Katie Miller to stretch the lead to 66-59 with four minutes left.
Trevecca answered with their own 7-0 run to tie the game at 66. KWC's defense over the last 2:25 forced two turnovers and allowed the Trojans to only shoot once, while the Panthers made 5-of-6 at the free throw line to close out the game 71-66.
Wells led two other Panthers in double-figures off the bench. Walker-Crawford just missed a double-double again with 12 points and nine rebounds and
Jordanne Gambill finished with 11 in the contest.
KWC out rebounded Trevecca 39-30 and shot 48 percent from the floor while holding the Trojans to 40 percent.
The Panthers will attempt to defend their championship tomorrow at 3 p.m. CT against host and number one seed Cedarville.
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