#3 Women’s Basketball opens home campaign with win over visiting Chowan

Salisbury, N.C. —- The 3rd-ranked Catawba College women's basketball team extended their home win streak to 21 games in their home opener on Tuesday evening, defeating the visiting Chowan Hawks, 79-62.

TEAM STATS

- Catawba shot 25-of-64 (39 percent) while holding the Hawks to 21-for-54 from the field (39 percent)

- The Catawba Indians knocked down 11 three-pointers on 30 attempts (37 percent), while CU was 4-of-15 from deep (27 percent)

- Catawba was 18-for-22 (82 percent) from the free throw line; Chowan went 16-for-30 (53 percent) from the charity stripe

- The Catawba Indians held a slight advantage in rebounds 41-38

- Catawba had 19 assists and 21 turnovers, while forcing the Hawks to 24 turnovers

- The Catawba Indians out-scored Chowan 34-11 in points off turnovers

- CU held a slight advantage in points in the paint 26-24

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Janiya Downs matched a game-high with 14 points along with eight rebounds and four blocks

- Nala Baker knocked down three three-pointers for 13 points

- Mary Spry scored 12 points in 12 minutes off the bench

- Lyrik Thorne recorded a 10-point, 13-assist, six-rebound and four-steal stat line

- Sara McIntosh added eight points and five rebounds

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST QUARTER

- Imani Hickman knocked down a three for Chowan's only lead of the game, which Downs answered with a triple of her own just 12 seconds later

- Spry scored eight straight points for Catawba to pace a high-speed first quarter

- Natalie Lara Fuertes made a pair of free throws and drilled a three-pointer on the next possession as Catawba led 25-16 at the 1:25 mark

- The Hawks scored four straight to end the frame, trailing 25-20 after 10 minutes

SECOND QUARTER

- Chowan scored the first bucket of the second quarter nearly two minutes in

- Catawba's first points of the quarter came at the 6:25 mark on Baker's three-pointer

- Thorne's jumper capped Catawba's 11-0 run over over four and a half minutes to take a 14-point lead

- Thorne's personal 7-0 run pushed Catawba's lead to 45-25 with 1:09 left in the half

THIRD QUARTER

- Baker's layup made it a 54-27 lead, a 29-5 run for Catawba over nine minutes of game action

- Catawba took its largest lead at 58-29 at the 4:23 mark of the third

- Chowan answered with an unanswered five points over the next minute

- Mazie Helpman pushed the lead back to 28 points on her three-pointer

- Catawba led 65-39 after three quarters, out-scoring Chowan 40-19 in the second and third quarters

FOURTH QUARTER

- Chowan scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter, cutting their deficit below 20

- McIntosh and Downs combined for a 9-0 run to return the Catawba lead to 74-47 midway through the quarter

- The Hawks finished the game on an 11-2 run with the result never coming into doubt

UP NEXT

- Catawba returns to the Peach State on Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday, traveling to perennial region power North Georgia at 6 p.m.