GREENSBORO, N.C. -- William Peace University women's basketball team erased a 19-point deficit to defeat Guilford College 68-64 on Monday night. The Pacers rallied down 13 in the fourth quarter to hand the Quakers their first loss of the year.
The Pacers fell behind early trailing by 12 after the first quarter. Guilford extended its lead through the second quarter to go into the half up 17, 41-24. The Quakers held the Pacers to just 30% shooting in the first half and caused 12 turnovers.
The Pacers started to chip away at the Quakers lead to start the third quarter.
Cassidy Clark made the first bucket of the second half and
Tyler Mercer drained back-to-back threes to cut the deficit to nine early in the third quarter. But Guilford College made its next three shots and the lead was back to 15. The Pacers were not discouraged and continued to slowly take down the Quakers lead.
"The second half was all about defensive stops," head coach
Brandy Smith said. "We weren't trying to come back all at once, but getting a stop one play at a time and converting on the offensive end. The girls fought hard and it paid off!"
William Peace continued to get stop after stop and began to find its stride on the offensive end. The Pacers cut the lead down to nine entering the fourth quarter, but Guilford scored five of the first six points of the quarter to lead by 13 with 7:26 left in the game.
The next seven and a half minutes were all Pacer basketball.
Whitney Walker drained a three on the team's next possession and the Pacers forced two missed shots from the Quakers before
Susannah Sykes nailed another three pointer to get within seven. Guilford called a timeout to stop the bleeding, but
Hannah Ericksen blocked the Quakers next shot attempt and
Tyler Mercer got to the free throw line to sink a couple free throws to get within five, 56-51.
Guilford earned a couple free throws on their next offensive possession but missed both.
Whitney Walker took advantage of the two misses and made a three pointer to come within two points. The teams would trade buckets over the next two minutes before Guilford extended the lead back to six with 3:12 to go. William Peace would hold Guilford scoreless the rest of the game.
William Peace would either force a turnover or missed shot on the Quakers next 10 possessions.
Makayla Ray,
Nadine Ealey, Walker and Sykes all capitalized on the Quakers poor play and converting on the Pacers' offensive possessions. Ealey's steal and layup with two minutes left tied the game at 64 while Sykes' jumper with 1:25 was the go ahead basket.
Makayla Ray sank two crucial free throws in the final seconds to give William Peace a four-point cushion.
THE BIG PICTURE
William Peace (5-2) handed Guilford its first loss of the season and extended the school's winning streak to four heading into a large break for the team. The Pacers have continued to find different ways to win and experienced tremendous adversity in several games to stage dramatic comebacks.
A TALE OF TWO HALVES
William Peace shot 30% from the floor in the first half, but doubled that number in the second to 61%, including a 9-of-11 shooting effort in the fourth quarter. Guilford shot 46% in the first half, but only made 27% in the second, which includes 0-for-8 from beyond the arc. The Pacers on the other hand were 6-of-9 from three-point territory in the second half.
BY THE NUMBERS
Tyler Mercer scored 16 points to lead all scorers while
Nadine Ealey added 15.
Whitney Walker finished in double figures with 13 on 5-of-7 shooting and 3-of-3 from beyond the arc.
Makayla Ray had eight points and eight rebounds to go with two blocks and two assists.
UP NEXT
William Peace will enjoy a long break before facing Southern Virginia University on January 2.
