WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

After disposing of 5th-seeded LSU Shreveport by eight Friday night, the 12th-seeded Huntington women’s basketball team (18-12) looked like they were picking up where they left off Saturday night against 4th-seeded Hastings (25-7) before running out of gas in the second half to suffer a 90-66 loss to the Broncos in second round action of the NAIA National Tournament.

The upset-minded Foresters scored 24 points in the opening ten minutes to enjoy a four-point lead over their hosts by the first break. HU’s first six field goals all came from downtown with Bailey Kelham, Kyndell Jochim and Gabi Melby each dropping in a pair. The trio combined to go 6-for-7 from deep in the first quarter.

The first four minutes of the second stanza saw Kelham and Jochim combine for three more long balls to push Huntington’s lead to eight at 33-25. While HU’s sharpshooting has been their bread and butter all season, unfortunately it wasn’t able to cover their mistakes on this given day.

HU committed seven turnovers in the final six minutes of the first half compliments of the Broncos’ full court press which proved a game-changing momentum shift. It made for a 21-5 run that sent the hosts into the locker room with a 46-38 lead.

Kelham came out of the break firing on all cylinders. The 5-8 sophomore was deadeye from long range, adding three more treys to her total within the first two minutes. Unfortunately, McKenna Yates went tit for tat to match Kelham’s first two triples to limit the damage to HC’s lead.

Shortly after, Liv Raby bullied her way down low for a bucket after which Melby knocked down a pair of free throws to trim the difference to just three at 54-51 with 5:45 left in the third. Hastings got back after it with their press to wreak havoc on Huntington once again. HU coughed up the ball five times to close out the quarter to extend Broncos’ lead back to double figures at 67-55.

By then, the Foresters had run out of gas and the final score reflected that as Maggard’s crew was outscored 23-11 in the last ten minutes to suffer the lopsided loss.

Kelham finished 7-for-12 from beyond the arc on her way to pouring in a game-best 23 points. She also corralled six rebounds. Melby tossed in 14 points as HU’s only other double-digit scorer. Jochim added nine points, seven rebounds and three assists. Raby enjoyed game-high rebounding honors with ten.

Bailey Kissinger led a balance Hastings attack with 17 points. Mariyah Avila tossed in 14, Yates finished with 12 and Bose added 11, all of which came in the second half.

With this loss, Huntington’s season comes to an end while the Broncos advance to the Sweet 16 in Sioux City next week.