ACC’s women’s basketball team had to fight it out against Highland Tuesday night. The Scotties packed a punch, but Allen came away the victors, 61-48.
The game didn’t begin the way Allen wanted. At the opening tip-off, the Red Devils turned the ball over. The turnovers continued for ACC, but terrible shooting from Highland prevented them from growing their 5-4 lead. Highland led for a good portion of the first half, until Allen shooters started hitting their marks and took the lead 15-14 in the middle of the second quarter.
Highland’s size was a problem for the Red Devils who tried to work the ball around in the second.
Allen was able to grow its lead in the waning stages of the first half thanks to a big second quarter from Adjaratou Mbaye with eight points.
Allen led 31-23 at the half.
Both teams were sloppy in the third quarter but Allen held onto the lead.
In the fourth quarter, the action really heated up — in a bad way. Toward the end of the game, two players got tangled up. As they were separated, a Highland player threw a punch at an Allen player. The refs ejected the Highland player. The ejection caused Highland to lose a lot of their height advantage.
The altercation seemed to light a fire under Allen. The Red Devils closed out the win, extending their lead until the buzzer sounded. Three Red Devils finished in double digits.
“This was a good win against a very good Highland team,” said Allen head coach Leslie Crane. “It was a tough win. We had to duke it out, literally. I’m proud of our kids tonight because it was a good team effort. We saw a lot of good maturity tonight.”
Skyler Evans scored 12 points. Hallie Reed scored 11. Mbaye ended with 10. Clara Romero and Naomi Smith both had nine. Dayle Hambelton had five. Melody Wilfong scored three. Alayjha Bayonne scored two. Narissa Blackwell had one.
Allen is 6-8 and 2-1 in conference. The Red Devils will look to extend their two-game winning streak Saturday at Neosho.
