WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Playing among a sea of pink in Platt Arena, the HU women’s basketball team wrapped up the regular season sweep over Bethel (6-15, 1-10) with a 65-50 win Wednesday night at their annual Pink Out game. Huntington’s first win of the season over BU was a 62-58 decision back in November.

The Foresters have dominated this series as of late. Since 2016, HU has racked up a 14-1 record over the Pilots.

The first 15 minutes of today’s contest was a brawl as both teams were lobbying for any sort of advantage. Olivia Raby’s flashy move down low midway through the second quarter finally put HU up for good at 20-19.

While no more than two possessions separated the two squads up to that point, Raby’s bucket ignited a 15-4 run that ended with a barrage of threes within a two-minute span, a pair by Bailey Kelham followed by one from Emily Seboe, that extended the lead to 33-23 with 45 seconds left in the half.

Bethel had the final say of the frame, scoring just before intermission for a 33-25 difference at the midway point. It was a little touch and go to start the second half with the Pilots closing to within five, 35-30, but Seboe’s shake and bake move down the lane got the Foresters back on track to the tune of a 43-32 difference by the halfway point of the third quarter.

Huntington’s double-digit lead was shaved to single digits just once after that as the game was never in question. The lead swelled to as many as 20 late in the fourth before Maggard and crew settled for the final 15-point victory.

Kelham topped all scorers with 20 points. It’s the ninth time the freshman sensation has dropped at least 20. She also enjoyed game-high rebounding honors with eight. Annaka Nelson was HU’s spark in the first half having scored nine of her 11 points in the opening 20 minutes. Additionally she swiped five steals and snagged four boards.

The Pilots were paced by Maiah Shelton’s 14 points and Abby Williams’ ten.

With today’s win, the Foresters improve to 11-10 overall which includes a 5-6 CL record. HU travels to Saint Francis on Saturday to face the Cougars at 1:00 p.m. The two teams head into the contest tied for fifth in the league standings.