PEMBROKE, N.C. – The Belmont Abbey women's basketball team won its third Conference Carolinas outright regular season Conference Carolinas title in the last four seasons with a 55-51 victory over UNC Pembroke Wednesday evening at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court.
The victory ensures Belmont Abbey will be the top seed in the American Casualty Insurance Conference Carolinas Women's Basketball Tournament scheduled to begin this coming Sunday.
The Crusaders pulled off the win with a furious fourth-quarter rally, outscoring the Braves 25-13 in the fourth quarter. That included a 15-5 run to begin the period after trailing by as many as 10 points in the period.
Freshman
Cate Schieber finished with a career-high 20 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter.
Abigail Crain was just shy of a double-double, finishing with 17 points and nine rebounds.
Belmont Abbey finishes the regular season 22-4 overall, 19-1 in Conference Carolinas. UNC Pembroke is 19-9, 16-4 in the league and will be the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Crusaders got off to a strong start shooting, making their first three 3-pointers to take an early 11-5 lead in the quarter. The Braves rallied to tie the game at 13-13 after the first 10 minutes.
- Belmont Abbey was held to a season-low five points in the second quarter and trailed 28-18 at halftime.
- The Crusaders were able to cut the deficit down to six early in the third quarter with a 7-3 run. The Crusaders took its first lead since the opening quarter with Schieber's 3-pointer with 4:36 remaining. She made the first two 3s she shot early in the quarter.
- Schieber's fourth three-pointer of the quarter gave the Crusaders the lead again with 1:21 remaining.
- After the Braves tied the game at 50-50, Crain gave Belmont Abbey the lead for good with a jumper with 35 seconds remaining.
- The Braves made 1 of 2 free throws on the other end while Crain responded making a pair of free throws to make it 54-51 with 23 seconds remaining.
- Taylor Stelley earned the final point for the Crusaders with a free throw and the team made a defensive stop to seal the game.
- The Abbey outrebounded UNC Pembroke 42-29 in the game.
- Peyton Nation finished with seven points and eight rebounds off the bench.
- The Crusaders shot 52.9 percent in the fourth quarter, the best of the game.
REGIONAL RANKING
- The NCAA released its initial set of regional rankings on Wednesday with the Crusaders checking at No. 10 in the Southeast Region.
UP NEXT
- Belmont Abbey will face the winner of the 4-5-8-9 matchup in the semifinals at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, March 4, at Wofford College in Spartanburg.