Women’s Basketball moves their win streak to four with an Overtime win over the Barons

WEST POINT, Ga. (Jan. 10, 2024) - The Point University Women's Basketball team returned to the court for a home Southern States Athletic Conference matchup against Brewton-Parker College where the Skyhawks battled through for an overtime win over the Barons with a final score of 84-77. 

The first quarter began with Shanbriah Rule getting the first score of the game to put Point in the lead. Antonia Pittman jumped the passing lane for the steal and the fastbreak layup which saw Point leading 5-3 in the early going. The Barons wiped the lead from Point but Skyhawks returned the favor as Ky'Leo Worriels powered through the lane for the and-one layup which was followed by the converted free throw. Worriels found herself crashing the boards on the following possession as she grabbed the offensive rebound for the putback layup to extend the lead to 11-8. Mataea Boyd's court vision was put on display as she connected with Ananda Hughley for the and-one layup in the post. Hughley followed with a made free throw and added more fuel to the fire with a layup as she grabbed the offensive rebound. The Skyhawks ended the quarter with a layup from Mataea Boyd to bring the score to 18-10 at the end of the first period. 

Mirial Cannon got the second quarter going for the Skyhawks with a layup which was followed by a jumper from Ananda Hughley to bring the lead to six. Point continued to bring a challenge to the Barons pushing the pace with fastbreak layups from Mataea Boyd and Shanbriah Rule. Point's ball movement was key in this second period which showed with an assist from Antonia Pittman as Mirial Cannon powered through the contact for the and-one layup. The Skyhawks took their biggest lead with 11 as Shakira Wilson did not waste any time getting her shot going with a mid-range jumper and a three-pointer to bring the score to 34-23. As Brewton-Parker looked to respond with a run, Mataea Boyd was left with too much space as she easily connected with two consecutive three-pointers. The Barons would be able to get on the scoreboard to end the quarter with the Skyhawks leading 40-30 at the half.  

The third quarter began with Shanbriah Rule opening with a smooth layup through the lane which was followed by two scores from Mataea Boyd. The Barons responded with a 9-2 run to bring the score to 50-46 with hopes of making extra noise to go into the final quarter as the Skyhawks looked to regroup. Brewton-Parker opened the fourth quarter with three scores to take their first lead since the first quarter. The Skyhawks did not panic as Senior Forward, Ananda Hughley continued to be another spark for the team with an and-one layup and a made free throw. With Point trailing by one, Mirial Cannon crashed the offensive boards off the missed three-pointer to convert the layup which helped the Skyhawks regain the lead. The Barons responded to move back in front until Shakira Wilson breezed past the defense for the smooth layup that had no chance of being contested for the score. Point continued to chip away with a layup from Mataea Boyd and a triple from Antonia Pittman to lead 63-59 with 2:56 left in the final quarter. The Skyhawks did not hesitate to continue attacking the paint as Mataea Boyd was not phased by the contact which helped Point score again. Brewton-Parker did not go away easily and went from trailing by five to leading 67-66 with under two minutes left. Point had the perfect plan to force the Barons to foul which saw Antonia Pittman go the charity stripe where she went 1-for-2 to tie the game at 67. With 1.9 seconds left, Brewton-Parker turned the ball over with a Shanbriah Rule steal but Point would not make the buzzer-beater to take the game into overtime.  

Mataea Boyd started the OT period with two free throws and Shanbriah Rule added some finesse to the layup which brought the game to 71-67. Rule continued to show why she could be in the big moment as the following three scores came from made free throws on her end. Point continued to use their lead as the advantage as the Skyhawks scored their following six points on free throws to take the win 84-77. 

In the Box 

Mataea Boyd led with a double-double as she had 23 Points, 15 Rebounds, three steals and one blocked shot. Shanbriah Rule added 17 Points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals. Ananda Hughley contributed 11 Points, six rebounds, and one assist on the evening.  

Coach's Quote 

Head Coach Tory Wooley was pleased with his team's effort to stay the course and not panic during crucial moments. "Our players came ready to play and competed to the very end. They were connected and never gave up when Brewton-Parker took the lead late in the game. We do have to clean up a few things as we get deeper in conference plat but we did an outstanding job rebounding the ball and got key stops when it counted against a good Brewton-Parker team. I couldn't be more proud of our players believing in each other and trusting the game plan." 

Up Next 

The Skyhawks will travel to Montgomery, Alabama for an SSAC afternoon matchup against Faulkner University on Saturday, January 13th starting at noon.