Box Score LEBANON, Tenn. - There has now been only one winning streak longer in the storied history of Freed-Hardeman women's basketball.
The No. 3 Lady Lions overcame a slow start, turning a 10-point first-half deficit into a one-point lead at halftime, then pulled away in the second half on their way to a 66-51 win over Cumberland (Tenn.) University on Saturday afternoon in Dallas Floyd Gymnasium.
It was the 14th consecutive win for FHU (14-2, 2-0), whose only two losses were to forfeit due to an error in paperwork required by the NAIA. It tied the second-longest winning streak in program history, which came during the 2002-03 season. The longest winning streak is 23 games, accomplished by the 2005-06 team.
The Lady Lions struggled to make shots early while Cumberland (3-9, 0-2) made 11 of its first 22 shots, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range. The result was a 28-18 Bulldog lead with 6:27 left in the first half.
FHU responded with a 9-0 run to cut the lead to one, and after a basket by CU, rolled off six more unanswered points to take a 33-30 lead with 15 seconds left before the Bulldogs' Casie Cowan made two free throws just before halftime.
Picking up where they left off, the Lady Lions started the second half on a 7-0 run and steadily increased their lead for the remainder of the game. FHU led by as many as 20 points after two
Natalie Shumpert free throws with 57 seconds left.
After making six of their first 18 field goal attempts, the Lady Lions shot 53.1 percent for the rest of the game and 52.2 percent in the second half. It was the opposite for Cumberland who, after starting the game hot, shot just 24.1 percent after taking a 10-point lead inside seven minutes in the first half.
Shumpert led all scorers with 18 points, 15 of which came in the second half.
Hannah Parsley had 14 and
Amber Alexander added 10.
The Lady Lions get a week off before hosting No. 2 Union (Tenn.) University at 2:00 PM on Saturday, Jan. 14.
