WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The Huntington women’s basketball team pieced together a 12-3 fourth quarter run to escape Ariel Arena with an 83-73 road win at Mount Vernon Wednesday evening.

The Foresters have strung together two straight conference wins to improve to 13-10 overall, 6-7 in league play. With five regular season games remaining, HU is tied for fifth in the CL standings with Mount Vernon. With this loss, the Cougars drop to 14-9 which includes their 6-7 league record.

Liv Raby got her team off to a hot start by scoring six points in 90 seconds for an HU lead of 10-5 within the opening three minutes. She finished the quarter with ten and then had plenty of help from her teammates in the next ten minutes for a 36-33 difference by intermission. The guests led throughout the first half with a 10-10 tie the only exception.

MVNU got the best of Huntington in the third stanza. After scoring the first five points of the second half to enjoy their first lead of the contest, the Cougars went on to build a seven-point cushion late in the quarter before taking a 61-57 lead into the fourth.

Raby and Gabi Melby teamed up to take control of the final ten minutes to swing the pendulum back in favor of HU. The Foresters outscored their hosts 26-12, limiting Mount Vernon to just three field goals in the quarter.

Bailey Kelham nailed a three to ignite a 12-3 run that saw HU turn a five-point hole into a 69-65 advantage with Raby’s layup capping the nine-point swing with six minutes left on the clock. There was no turning back after that.

From then on, the Raby/Melby duo combined to score 12 of Huntington’s last 14 points which included going 8-for-10 from the charity stripe in the final minute to build a double-digit advantage by the final horn.

There were several keys to HU’s success. The visitors outshot MVNU by nearly ten percent having gone 29-for-62 for 46.8 percent compared to the Cougars’ 36.6 percent (26-for-71). Huntington also won the long game by knocking down nine threes to Mount Vernon’s four. Additionally, Maggard’s crew outrebounded their hosts 43-38 and after committing eight turnovers in the first half, HU coughed up the ball just four times in the final 20 minutes.

Melby finished with 24 points in addition to handing out seven dimes and collecting just as many boards. Raby posted 21 points, a game-best eight rebounds, three assists and three blocks. Kelham did what she does best, which is knock down the long ball. She finished with 18 points, all from downtown where she went 6-for-12. Annaka Nelson rounded out Huntington’s double digit scoring with 13 points. She also grabbed seven boards and registered two assists and two blocks.

Serenitee Johnson paced MVNU with a game-best 28 points. Teres Maggio and Angela Roshak each tossed in 19.

Today’s win avenges an 89-85 loss to the Cougars back in December. Next up for the Foresters is a visit from #15 Marian on Saturday with tip-off slated for 1:00 p.m.