Henderson - Freed-Hardeman University hosted The Masters University on their southern trip to start the season. After a 2-0 start, with wins against University of the Cumberlands and Alice Loyd College, the Mustangs (2-1) looked to go back home with a 3-0 record, while the Freed-Hardeman (2-0) looked to defend their home court.
Aubrey Blankenship got the Lady Lions started with a steal leading to a Lilly Kee fast break layup. The Mustangs countered with a layup of their own, before Ella Wheeler put the Lady Lions back in front with an and-1. Ally Weathers scored a layup at the 6:27 mark to spark an 8-0 run with 3s from Blankenship and Jenna Satterly, plus a Kee layup. Kee made 2 free throws with just over a minute left in the quarter, while Izabella Forker went 1 for 2 from the line to end the scoring for the first, and FHU on top 23-14.
Allie Miller scored a jumper to start the second for the Mustangs. For much of the quarter, the two teams traded buckets, with neither team gaining a big scoring stretch. The Lady Lions started the quarter on a 9-4 run to increase the lead to 12 in the first four minutes. For the remainder of the quarter, the lead never got above 16 but never fell below 10. Satterly scored 9 of FHU's 24 points in the second, scoring in every way possible, a mid-range jumper, a layup, 2 free throws, and a long ball. The Lady Lions took a 47-34 lead into the half.
Coming out of the half, the Mustangs ramped up their defensive pressure, forcing six in the quarter. With just under eight minutes remaining, Izabella Forker had a steal leading to a fast-break layup followed by an Allie Miller steal leading to another layup to take the lead down to 11. Weathers answered with an and-1. The Mustangs used an 8-point run to cut the lead to five, leading to an FHU timeout with three minutes remaining. The team came out of the timeout with back to back Blankenship 3s with both coming from a Weathers assist to bump the lead back to 11, and Kee free throws at the end helped lead the Lions with a 13-point lead with one quarter to play.
In the fourth, Ally Weathers decided to take things into her own hands, scoring nine of the team's 17 points, starting with a long ball to answer The Masters 3, to take the lead back into double figures. That 3 started a 6-0 run by Weathers, including a free throw and another 3 ball. Weathers came back at the 5-minute mark with an and-1 layup to give the Lady Lions their largest lead of the game, 19. That lead would be too much to overcome, and the game ended with the FHU Lions winning 81-67.
Weathers tied to lead for all scorers with 20 and dishing out a game high 6 assists. Satterly and Kee both contributed 17, with Kee getting another double-double. Blankenship and Wheeler joined the double figure scoring with 13 and 10, respectively. The Lions blocked 8 shots, with Kee, Blankenship, Wheeler, and Jocy May all getting two a piece.
As a team, the Lions eclipsed the 50/40/90 mark, shooting 50.9% from the field, 41.2% from 3, and 90.9% from the charity stripe.
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Up Next:
The Lady Lions will travel to Marietta, Ga. this weekend to take on University of Mobile and Life University.
