By Alex Spangler, Brevard College Communications Practicum Student

BREVARD, N.C. - The Brevard College women's basketball team (5-2, 2-0 USA South) secured a decisive 87-61 home victory over N.C. Wesleyan (3-3, 0-1 USAS) on Tuesday evening at the Boshamer Gymnasium.  Brevard snapped a four-game losing streak in the series with the Battling Bishops who were ranked no. 3 in the preseason USA South Conference Coaches Poll.
 
Brevard was led by two 20-point performances as senior Josie Hester led the Tornados with 21 points and junior Jada Petty-Wilkins delivered 20 points.  The 21 points for Hester matched a season-high and came on a perfect 6-for-6 performance at the free throw line as well as three made 3-pointers.       
 
Senior Makenna Parkins also scored in double figures with 12 points and was dominant at times on the boards, recording a game-high nine rebounds.  Hester added seven boards and Petty-Wilkins pulled down six rebounds as well. 
 
Senior Lexi Shepard, BC's all-time career assists leader in the NCAA-era, registered a single-game career-high 10 assists. That mark supplants the previous BC single-game record of nine assists set four previous times, giving the Summerville, South Carolina point guard the single-game assist record. Shepard also was strong on the defensive end with three steals.
 
For the Battling Bishops, Corynthian Williams was the leading scorer with 17 points, supported by Nadia Simmons with 15 points and Dorinda Jordan who led the team with eight rebounds.
 
The game began with NC Wesleyan taking a quick 4-0 lead. Petty-Wilkins was the first to put the Tornados on the scoreboard, bringing the score to 4-3 with 8:02 remaining in the first quarter. The teams traded leads frequently in the first quarter, resulting in three lead changes before a 10-point run by Brevard concluded the first quarter with a score of 20-9.
 
Brevard extended its lead to 10 points, making it 26-16 with 7:17 remaining in the second quarter, then closed the half with a lead of 41-25 at halftime. In the third quarter, Brevard built a 23-point lead at 50-27 with 6:20 left. NC Wesleyan responded with a 6-0 run, but the Tornados pulled away again and entered the fourth period with a 58-41 lead.
 
In the fourth, Brevard led 64-44 with 8:07 remaining in the game, with much of the damage coming from the charity stripe including four made free throws by Hester on two technical fouls by NCWU . The Tornados later went on an 11-4 run, extending their lead to 75-49 with 5:13 left in the contest. BC stacked up its largest lead of the night at 79-53 with 3:23 remaining and cruised to the 87-61 victory.  
 
Overall, Brevard outshot NC Wesleyan, achieving a 44.9% field goal percentage from the field compared to 34.3% for the visitors.  NC Wesleyan committed 25 turnovers, leading to an impressive 31 points-off-turnovers for the Tornados.
 
Brevard will return to the Boshamer Gymnasium for its eighth game of the season on Friday at 7 p.m. as the Tornados will host Warren Wilson on the Brevard College campus.
 
To follow the latest news and updates surrounding Brevard College Athletics, follow the Tornados on Twitter and Instagram @bctornados, subscribe to 'Brevard College Tornados' on YouTube, follow 'Brevard College Tornados' on SoundCloud, and 'Brevard College Athletics' on Facebook. In addition, follow 'brevardcollege' on Flickr for photos from Brevard College.