College Women’s Basketball Final – Guilford 75, MacMurray 51

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Guilford College’s Anais Weatherly (Winston-Salem, N.C./Mount Tabor) became the 19th player in school history to score 1,000 points as the Quakers claimed a Saturday afternoon victory in day one of the Guilford College Classic over MacMurray College, 75-51. Bridgewater College claimed the opening contest earlier in the day over Elmira College, 74-64.

The Quakers jumped to an early 11-0 run in the game’s first 4:44 of the contest as Essence Abraham’s (Greensboro, N.C./Dudley) bucket at the 5:01 mark of the first quarter marked the fifth Quakers’ player to score a point. The lead extended to 13 points three times in the period as Weatherly’s second bucket of the quarter with 40 seconds left, which helped her surpass the 1,000-point mark, provided an exclamation point as the period drew to a close. The Quakers opened the contest with a 12-0 advantage in the paint in the first quarter and scored 11 points off of MacMurray turnovers.

Guilford widened their lead after MacMurray’s Destyne Powell sunk a three-pointer to open the second quarter, mounting an 8-0 run to stretch their lead to 18 points with 4:30 left in the period. The Highlanders cut the lead down to 13 with 2:48 remaining, but the Quakers amassed a 9-0 run over the next 1:52 to achieve their largest lead of the half, 22 points, with 42 seconds remaining. The Quakers closed the period with a 17-2 advantage in points off of turnovers.

Guilford amassed another 8-0 run in the early stages of the third quarter, lasting 2:16 to increase their lead to 29. A pair of Miracle Walters (Elkin, N.C./Elkin) lay-ups helped the Quakers widen their lead to 30 points, the largest of the game. The Highlanders pushed back in the fourth quarter as they held a 10-8 edge in the paint for the period and cut the lead down to 21 points, but the advantage never dipped below that mark as the Quakers cruised to victory while holding the Highlanders with a field goal for the final 5:47 of the contest.

Four of Guilford’s five starters finished in double-figure scoring, led by Weatherly’s 14 points on seven-of-12 shooting. She also totaled six rebounds and five assists with four steals. Amy Steller (Advance, N.C./Davie/Pfeffier), Lauren Ramsey (Lexington, N.C./North Davidson), and Jordyn Brown all added 10 points a piece. Ramsey added four rebounds and four assists while shooting five-of-ten from the field while Brown added eight rebounds.

The Quakers shot 47 percent for the contest, including a blistering 59.3 percent in the second half. MacMurray shot 27.9 percent for the game, being held to just seven first-half field goals and shooting five-for-28 (17.9 percent) from three-point range.

The Quakers out-rebounded the Highlanders, 47-41, with MacMurray holding a 18-15 edge on the offensive glass. The Quakers dominated in the paint, 48-20, and finished with a 25-10 edge in points off of turnovers. The Quakers held a strong edge in fast break points, 10-0.

Bridgewater’s Jessica Lam led all scorers in the day’s first contest with 23 points on nine-of-16 shooting. Danielle Cleary led Elmira with 21 points, nine rebounds, and four assists.

The Quakers return tomorrow to finish the Guilford College Classic, hosting Elmira College for a 2 p.m. contest after Bridgewater faces MacMurray at noon.