King outscored Belmont Abbey 13-6 in the final eight minutes to surge ahead after the Crusaders built a five point lead, as the Tornado women's basketball team escaped with a 51-48 win this evening at the Wheeler Center. The Tornado improve to 11-9 overall and 7-9 in Conference Carolinas, while the Abbey drops to 10-10 overall and 9-7 in league play. Both teams won on the other's home court as the school's split the season series.

The Crusaders led the entire first half, building their lead to as high as nine at 24-15 with 4:23 to play, but King closed the half on a 11-4 flurry to cut its halftime deficit to just two at 28-26.

King opened the second half by scoring five of the first seven points to take its first lead at 31-30 with just under three minutes gone by, but the Crusaders scored the next five points to surge back ahead by five. King responded with five unanswered to deadlock the contest at 36, but Melisa Foures answered with her first three-pointer of the season to put the Abbey back on top.

Two free throws from King's Tia Kiett, followed by a jumper from Alley Sprouse, gave the Tornado the lead momentarily at 40-39 with 9:56 to go. Morgan Midkifff answered with a three-pointer on the other end to put the Crusaders back on top by two points, but that was the last lead of the game for the Crusaders.

Bonnie Durrett tied the game at 42 with 9:04 to go, followed by a Kelly Jackson layup that moved the Tornado ahead by two. McKenzie Owen tied the game for the sixth and final time with 7:18 to play, and less than two minutes later, Stephanie Brantley put King ahead to stay at 46-44 with 5:36 to go. Brantley extended the advantage to five with a trifecta after an Abbey turnover, and Sprouse moved it to seven with 2:41 to go at 51-44.

King did not score again as it withstood a late Crusader charge. Kelsey Long closed the lead to five with a short jumper at the 1:49 mark. Sprouse committed a turnover on King's next possession which turned into a running layup from Midkiff with 1:01 to play. Those would be the final points of the game as the defenses took over.

With 35 ticks left, Jackson turned the ball back over to the Abbey, who then turned it back over to King just ten seconds later. King was able to run the clock all the way down to four seconds before the Crusaders were able to foul. With the Abbey under the limit, King inbounded from midcourt. Foures stole the inbounds pass and immediately called timeout.

Candace Fox, inbounding near midcourt, could not find anyone open so she spent the Abbey's last timeout. After the second stoppage, Fox found Midkiff, whose desperation heave from 25 feet sailed way left as King earned the win.

King shot 39 percent as Durrett posted a double double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Sprouse added nine boards

Midkiff led all scorers with 16 points and three assists. Belmont Abbey shot 33 percent from the floor and were just three of 13 from beyond the arc.