Trojans cruise past King on Church Night

MOUNT OLIVE – Juniors Reagan Hune and Haleigh Crews combined for 48 points on Feb. 4, as the University of Mount Olive women’s basketball team rolled past King by an 83-52 margin in Conference Carolinas play at Kornegay Arena on Church Night.

With the win, the Trojans improved to 12-12 this season with an 8-8 mark record in league action. The season series ends in a split with both teams claiming wins at home. With four conference games left, UMO sits sixth in the league standings ahead of the conference tournament. Meanwhile, the Tornado dropped to 5-17 overall with a 5-9 record in conference play.

Hune delivered a career-high 26 points on 12 of 19 shooting with six rebounds, two assists, five steals and one block in 34 minutes on Saturday. The North Alabama transfer posted her first 20-point game of the year while ranking third on the team with 9.8 points per game.

Crews finished with 22 points on eight of 12 from the floor, including four of five from three-point range. She also totaled two rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block in 21 minutes. The Raleigh native registered her 12th game with double-digit points, including a pair of 20-point performances.

Freshman Laila Anderson totaled 16 points on seven of 15 shots with two rebounds, four assists and five steals in 31 minutes. Fellow freshman Maleiya Hill achieved a double-double behind a career-high 10 assists with 11 points, two rebounds, five steals and one block in 30 minutes. Sophomore Tiandria Tucker pulled down a career-best 13 rebounds, including seven offensive.

After a slow start in the initial three minutes of the contest, the Trojans recorded nine consecutive points to build a 13-3 advantage with 4:45 left in the first quarter. King managed to convert back-to-back shots to cut into the deficit before UMO mounted a 13-3 run over the next three-plus minutes to hold a 28-10 lead to end the opening quarter.

The Tornado kept pace with the Mount Olive offense in the second quarter as each team shot over 70.0 percent from the field. The Trojans would take a 45-28 advantage into halftime.

King scored the opening four points of the third, but the Trojans continued to establish their lead with eight unanswered points to extend the advantage to 53-32. The Tornado tallied six of the following eight points to close the gap to 55-38 at the 3:44 mark before UMO finished the quarter with an 8-0 run to take a 63-38 lead.

Mount Olive held its comfortable advantage throughout the entire fourth quarter, including building its largest lead of the contest at 33 points in the final seconds.

The Trojans finished the game shooting 50 percent (34 of 68) from the floor while converting seven of 10 (70 percent) from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Tornado shot at a 40.8 percent clip (20 of 49) from the field and made eight of 11 (72.7 percent) from the free-throw line. Mount Olive finished with a 34-30 rebounding advantage and produced 34 points off 30 turnovers forced, while King tallied 28 points in the paint.

— From University of Mount Olive Athletics