BELMONT, N.C. – The Belmont Abbey women's basketball team earned its seventh straight win with a 75-45 victory over Mount Olive Saturday afternoon in a Conference Carolinas matchup at the Wheeler Center.
 
After taking a 14-12 lead in the opening quarter, the Crusaders went on a 9-0 run to begin the second quarter to pull away and not look back. Belmont Abbey outscored Mount Olive 22-6 in the period.
 
The Crusaders had four players finish in double figures scoring led by 25 from Abigail Crain to go with five rebounds and an assist. Taylor Stelley added 12 points while Cate Scheiber and Peyton Nation had 11 points each off the bench for The Abbey.
 
It was all part of a season-high 53.3 percent from the field for the Crusaders, who moved to 9-3 overall and 6-0 in the conference. Mount Olive is now 8-7 overall, 4-3 in the league.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Crusaders got off to a quick start with a 7-2 advantage in the first three minutes.
Belmont Abbey went on a 13-0 run going back to the final two field goals of the first quarter to take control of the contest.
The six points allowed in the second quarter by Belmont Abbey matched the fewest allowed in a second quarter dating back to the Converse game on November 22, 2022.
Belmont Abbey outrebounded Mount Olive 40-23 in the game.
The Crusaders continued their strong shooting from the free throw line, going 22-of-26 from the charity stripe after a perfect 23-of-23 in the previous game against Carson-Newman.
Catherine Hendershott had eight points to go with a game-high eight rebounds for Belmont Abbey.
Stelley led Belmont Abbey with five assists.
Saturday's contest was the fifth game that the Crusaders have held their opponenets to 45 points or less.
Belmont Abbey led by as much as 33 points in the contest.
 
UP NEXT
The Crusaders close out the three-game home stand with another Conference Carolinas contest against Southern Wesleyan at 5 p.m. here at the Wheeler Center.
Belmont Abbey defeated Southern Wesleyan 63-41 on November 30.