Women's Basketball Avoids Being Stung By Yellow Jackets

By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Reinhardt women's basketball overcame a slow start on the road at Allen (S.C.) on Saturday afternoon and exploded in the final 20 minutes with a 45-27 second half to end the regular season with 14-straight wins, 77-70, over the Yellow Jackets.

The 22^nd-ranked Eagles (25-2, 22-2 Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) now look ahead to the AAC Championship in Tennessee next week after flipping the script at halftime against Allen, as the Yellow Jackets stymied their visitors in the opening half – in particular the second quarter – as Reinhardt could only put up 11 points.

Down, 43-32, heading into the locker room, the Eagles readjusted and came out on fire on both ends of the floor in a 24-12 quarter to take the lead heading into the final stanza. Another 20-plus-point period followed as both sides of the floor helped stretch a slim, one-point advantage to seven by the time the buzzer sounded.

Catherine Shope had 23 points – one of three Reinhardt players in double figures – including 13 makes from the free throw line in 15 tries. Bethany Headrick added 18 tallies, 7 rebounds and 5 assists, while Ashton Sutton finished with 10 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals.

"Wow, nice road win today for our team," head coach Toby Wagoner said. "It's all so hard to put into words… I have so many thoughts running through my head; the entire preseason and regular has been a process of segments driven by goals and core values. Honestly, today's game played out as a smaller segment of the overall process. These ladies amaze me more and more every day. It's mentally, physically and emotionally hard to sustain all they experience as students-athletes and they keep getting better. It's not always pretty but it's not always ugly either; they keep fighting and pushing forward. The attitude, character and work ethic are off the charts. Seriously, this team is a group of winners that doesn't know anything different, and the best part, is having a front-row seat to watch them. I just hope they are having fun and embracing the moment… This team is truly special.

"We get back to work on Monday; plan and prep for the next part of the process."

The hometown team was under 40 percent shooting at 22-of-57, but made 28 free throws in the win.

Additionally, seven of the eight players who checked in made it officially into the scorebook with points.

Reinhardt heads into next week's AAC Championship as the No. 2 seed, where it awaits the winner of No. 7 Montreat (N.C.) (14-14) vs. No. 10 Tennessee Wesleyan (9-18).

The game will be played on Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m. 

To view the entire tournament schedule, please click here.

For up-to-the-minute Eagles sports news, follow Reinhardt Athletics on Facebook, @RU_Eagles on Twitter and @ru_eagles on Instagram. 

For more information on Reinhardt Women's Basketball, please click here.