Wallace State’s women extend winning streak to nine games with win against Wallace-Selma in Comfort Suites New Year’s Classic

HANCEVILLE – Wallace State’s women’s basketball team opened 2014 in the same dominating fashion it handled most of its games in November and December.
The Lady Lions nailed 14 3-pointers and used its suffocating defense to roll to a 74-42 victory over Wallace-Selma in Friday’s opening game of the Comfort Suites New Year’s Classic. Wallace State (13-2) won its ninth game in a row, holding an opponent to under 50 points for the sixth time this season.
Wallace State’s women’s team is enjoying one of its hottest stretches in recent years, mainly because of its quality depth. The Lady Lions don’t miss a beat with either the starters or the reserves.
Eleven Lady Lions scored against Wallace-Selma on Friday, including seven who scored six or more.
“We are probably 11 deep who I can depend on in a pressure situation. That is huge for us. It may not show in the box score, but come February we’ll have fresh legs when other teams may not. I don’t really think we’ll see the dividends of our depth until we near the end of February and into the conference tournament,” said Wallace State third-year coach Ron Burdette, whose team also won a pair of games earlier this week in Memphis against Southwest Tennessee CC and Three Rivers (Mo.) CC.
Morgan Smith and Brandee Busenlehner paced the way for Wallace State against the Lady Patriots, each scoring 12 points. Busenlehner scored all 12 of her points in the first half.
Sophomore Morgan Pearson scored 10 points off the bench, Amber Carey added nine, draining three 3’s, Haven Albright scored seven and BreAnna Thompson and DeAndrea Carter scored six points apiece.
Wallace State imposed its will on Wallace-Selma over the final 11:54 of the first half, utilizing a 27-7 run to turn a three-point lead into a 41-18 halftime advantage. Carey and
Albright got the impressive surge started with 3-pointers each on consecutive possessions, Busenlehner scored five straight points and Pearson added a three. Later in the run, Smith drilled 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions, extending Wallace State’s lead to 38-18, and Snowden followed with a trey of her own to cap the run.
“We didn’t come out as crisp and weren’t working the ball against their zone like we normally do, but we settled down. We know we’re a good shooting team and know shots are going to fall,” Burdette said.
Wallace-Selma never threatened the rest of the way. Jaminesha Caver led the Lady Patriots with 20 points.
Wallace State, which is perfect at home this season, travels to Birmingham on Monday to play Birmingham Southern’s JV team.
For more information about Wallace State athletics, visit wallacestate.edu.