RICHMOND, Ind. – A dominant third quarter effort from Earlham College women's basketball, including a 7-1 run to end the frame, lifted the Quakers to a 74-63 win over visiting Anderson University, in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference matchup on Saturday afternoon at Druley Performance Gym.
Earlham improved to 7-11 overall, matching the Quakers' win total of a year ago, with seven games remaining on the schedule. The Maroon and White are now 5-6 in the HCAC, and climbed into fifth place in the HCAC standings with their third win over the last four games.
Anderson slipped to 9-10 overall, 5-7 in the HCAC, with the loss.
The Quakers held a 36-29 lead at the halftime break, and were holding onto a five-point advantage, 40-35, with 5:56 left in the third quarter following a layup by the Ravens' Payton Moore.
Earlham responded with a layup from junior forward Zoe Curtis, part of her game-high 19 points on the day, and a three-pointer from senior guard Makayla McFarland to put the
Quakers in front by 10.
A jumper by Anderson's Hanna Ault briefly interrupted the Earlham run, but the Quakers quickly got back into gear with foul shots by junior guards Camryn White and Amy Weisner. Junior guard Kyndall Spears added a jumper and a trey on back-to-back trips up the floor, giving Earlham a 15-point advantage, 52-37, with 54 seconds to play in the quarter. A late free throw by Moore took a nibble out of the Earlham lead, but the Quakers went into the final quarter in front, 52-38.
Earlham extended its lead to 19 points, 62-43, at the 5:17 mark of the fourth following a pair of foul shots by sophomore center Rosie Newhart, and never led by less than 11 points the rest of the way. The Quakers held off all Raven rally attempts with a 12-of-13 effort at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, and finished the game 22-of-25 at the stripe – Earlham's best shooting percentage at the stripe this season in a game where they've made 20-or-more free throws.
The Quakers opened the game with a 10-0 run, including five by sophomore guard Kayla Bowling off a jumper and a three-pointer. The Ravens clawed their way back into the game with three-straight three-pointers from Lexi Dellinger, clipping the Earlham lead to 23-20 after 10 minutes.
Anderson pulled even with Earlham midway through the second quarter, 29-29 with 4:21 showing, after a Tatum Minier layup. However Earlham closed out the period with a 7-0 run to retake the lead heading into the break.
Curtis hauled down a team-high seven rebounds to go with her 19 points, and added an assist and a block to her stat line. Spears charted 14 points off the bench on 5-of-10 shooting, including a pair of three-pointers, while McFarland and Bowling added 13 and 10 points respectively. Sophomore Acacia Tenette dished out seven assists to go with two points, three steals, and three rebounds. White tallied seven points, four assists, three board, and two steals on the day.
Earlham will be on the road for its next three games, starting with a trip to Lexington, Ky., to face Transylvania University on Wednesday, Jan. 30. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m.