The Brevard College women’s basketball team extended its winning streak to four games by defeating Converse, 66-54, in non-conference action on Monday night in the Sally Abney Rose Complex. The Tornados matched their longest winning streak since the start of the 2011-12 campaign when they won four straight.
Kelsie Rhyne had a season-high 14 points for the Tornados (7-13 overall) off the bench Shelby Wolfe and Nicole Graham each had 10 points. Graham matched her season-high in points and also had two rebounds and two steals while Wolfe had eight boards.
Madison Lenox had nine points while Taylor Hiatt and Lynsey Crisp each had seven points for Brevard. Lenox and Hiatt each hauled in a team-leading seven boards while Hadara Bannister dished out a team-high three assists.
Margo Dill led Converse (2-18) with 12 points and six rebounds while Jakyra Washington and Christhea Mitchell each finished with 10 points. Logan Hollis had seven points and five rebounds while Ashley Salgado only had two points but had seven assists.
The Tornados opened the game the game shooting just 14.3 percent from the field over the first 6:22 of the game before going five for their next 10 to build a 17-12 lead over the Valkyries with 8:18 left in the half.
The Tornados went scoreless over the next minute and a half before Rhyne put the visitors up 20-14 with a layup. Brevard went up by nine with just over five and a half left before Converse scored five straight points to cut the lead to 23-19.
Crisp nailed a three point bucket to put the Tornados up by seven with a little over four minutes left to make it 26-19 but the Valkyries battled back and came within two points with 2:02 left in the opening half. Brevard, however, closed out the half with a 31-26 lead.
The teams traded buckets over the first five minutes of the second half but Brevard still held a 40-34 lead. The Tornados then went on a 10-1 run over the next 3:03 keyed by seven straight points by Wolfe and an Ariadna Simon three point bucket to go up by 15 points with just over 11 minutes left.
Rhyne helped her team build a 21 point advantage over the hosts knocking down two three point baskets as the Tornados had a 62-41 lead with a little over six minutes left in the contest.
Converse cut the lead to 14 with three minutes left while holding the Tornados to just one basket over the final three minutes. The lead was too much to overcome, as the Tornados never let the Valkyries to come within 12 points and finished the game with a 66-54 victory.
Brevard, which shot 34.4 percent in the first half, came back in the second half knocking down 15-of-32 (46.9 percent), for 40.6 percent from the field during the game. The visitors also shot 46.7 percent from beyond the arc while holding Converse to 33.9 percent from the field and 27.3 percent from three point range.
The Tornados also had 40 points contributed from the bench and had the edge in every other offensive category, except for fast break points. They also had a season high in rebounds with 53 in the game.
The Tornados look for their fifth straight win on Wednesday night as they travel to Jefferson City, Tennessee to face the Eagles of Carson-Newman. The game is set for 6 p.m.
Visit the official site of the Brevard College Tornados for more information.