Belmont Abbey freshman Morgan Midkiff sank two free throws with one second left in the contest to seal a 60-56 Crusaders win at King this evening in a Conference Carolinas matchup. The Abbey moves to 5-4 overall and 4-1 in league play, while King drops to 5-3 overall and 1-4 in Conference Carolinas.

The Crusaders led by as many as 16 in the second half before King mounted a comeback to cut the lead down to as few as two points, which it did four times.

Kelsey Long extended the Crusader lead to 16 with a three-pointer at the 12:47 mark in the second half, but the Tornado fought back with an 18-3 run over the next seven minutes to cut the deficit to 50-48 with 5:37 to go.

A layup from Candace Fox was answered by an Allison Bosse jumper to close the deficit back down to two, but Midkiff extended it to five with a three-pointer.

King did not go away, as Brooke Johnson answered with a three-pointer of her own to spiral the Abbey lead back down to a pair, but Long buried a trifecta on the Abbey's next possession to move the edge back to five at 58-53 with 1:37 to go.

29 seconds later, Brantley drained another three pointer to close the Abbey's lead down to a pair, but the Tornado did not score again, as they missed four field goal attempts, all on the same possession, and missed two free throws after an Abbey foul with five seconds left.

Midkiff was fouled on the inbounds pass, and her two free throws with a second left sealed the 60-56 victory.

Belmont Abbey shot 38 percent (21-54) from the floor as Long led all scorers with 21 points on eight of 15 shooting. She also had four rebounds and three assists. Midkiff added 17 points on five of 13 shooting with four rebounds and a pair of assists. Caitlyn Ranson added 11 points on three of 11 shooting with nine rebounds and two steals. Melisa Foures pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds as the Crusaders won that battle by a 45-38 count.

Brantley led the Tornado with 18 points on six of 10 shooting, including four of five from three-point range. Bonnie Durrett posted a double double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. King shot 31 percent (21-67) from the field.