The Brevard College women’s basketball team (14-10, 8-7 USAS) concluded its 2021-22 regular season with a 57-52 defeat to host Huntingdon College (10-14, 6-9 USAS) on Tuesday evening in Montgomery, Alabama.
With a conference record of 8-7, the Tornados clinched the West Division’s fourth seed in the upcoming USA South Conference tournament. No. 4 Brevard will host No. 5 Maryville College on Saturday in the first round of the USA South Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament. It marks the second straight year that the Tornados have qualified for the postseason and the first time BC will host a USA South Conference women’s basketball tournament game.
On Tuesday in the regular-season finale, the Tornados led the majority of the contest. However, the Hawks rallied late in the fourth quarter to take the victory on their home court. Forward Makenna Parkins led the Tornados with 23 points and 11 rebounds. It marked the second double-double in the career of the sophomore from Marion, North Carolina. It also marked the third time in Parkins’ career that she has scored 20 or more points with all three 20-plus scoring outputs coming in the last five games of the season.
Graduate forward Destiny Williams pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds. It marked the eighth time this season that Williams has grabbed double-digit rebounds in a game. Senior Avery Lockwood added nine points, as only six Tornados found the scoring column in the low-scoring affair.
Brevard led after the first quarter 16-10, then continued to lead throughout the entire second period to take a 26-18 lead into halftime. The Tornados stretched their lead to eight points in the third quarter, but HC came back to cut the deficit to one point at 36-35 entering the fourth. The two teams traded the lead and were tied several times throughout the fourth until Huntingdon took a four-point lead with 2:08 to play. A 3-pointer then followed by Shakirah Thompson to made the score 53-52 with 1:50 left in regulation. The Hawks however held BC scoreless in the Nados’ final possessions, while finishing the game on a 10-3 run to take the victory. In total, the game featured seven lead changes and seven ties. Both teams struggled shooting in the defensive affair with BC totaling a 32% field-goal percentage from the field and making just three 3-pointers. HC went 31% from the field and made 5-of-22 shots from behind the arc.
Next up for Brevard will be Maryville College in the first round of the USA South Conference tournament on Saturday at the Boshamer Gymnasium on the BC campus. It will mark the third meeting this season and the third matchup in a span of ten days between the two teams. The Tornados and Scots split the regular-season series with BC winning 65-63 on Feb. 9 at Maryville and the Scots winning this past Sunday 75-71 at Brevard.