Wallace State women’s basketball pounds L.B. Wallace behind 15 3-pointers, Lady Lions ready for conference play

HANCEVILLE – Wallace State’s women’s basketball team is ready to get the conference grind underway. The Lady Lions put a lid on their non-conference stretch Saturday, pounding L.B. Wallace 84-30 at Tom Drake Coliseum.
Wallace State (15-3), winners of 11 of 12 games, remained perfect at home by drilling 15 3-pointers as a team and yielding a season-low in points.
“We’re ready to start the second part of our season,” said sophomore guard Jaylan Snowden when referring to Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC) play. “This game was a good one to get our rhythm back in order for us to be ready to play Gadsden State on Thursday. I love the confidence we have in each other. I have a lot of confidence in my teammates, they have confidence in me, we have a lot of shooters and we have a lot of fun.”
As Wallace State did to most of its opponents at home in November and December, the Lady Lions put L.B. Wallace away early in the first half. Wallace State surrendered five points in the opening four minutes and then allowed only five more the remainder of the first half.
The Lady Lions faced an early 5-1 deficit before Cullman’s Morgan Smith hit Wallace State’s first field goal, a 3-pointer from the right corner, to tie things up at 5-5 at the 15:42 mark in the first half.
Wallace State then followed with a backbreaking run, outscoring the Lady Saints 14-0 over the next five minutes to grab a 19-5 advantage. The Lady Lions continued to pour it on late in the first half. Point guard Hannah Sharpe, a Red Bay native, nailed three 3’s in a span of 50 seconds, helping Wallace State eventually push out to a 44-10 halftime advantage.
L.B. Wallace managed only 20 more points the rest of the way.
“I think we came out with a little hangover after losing a tough one Thursday at Northeast Mississippi. Once our first shot fell, the confidence and our old team came back. When you run off 10 wins in a row like we did, it’s easy to think you’re invincible. We got punched in the nose a little bit in Mississippi, and it took us a couple of days to get over it,” said Wallace State third-year coach Ron Burdette.
Five Wallace State players finished with double figures. Amber Carey led the way with 12 points, using four 3’s in the second half to account for all of her points. Sharpe scored all of her 11 points in the first half, Smith had 11 points and Haven Albright and Ashley Rodgers each contributed 10 off the bench.
BreAnna Thompson added seven points and seven rebounds off the bench for the Lady Lions, while Snowden had six points, eight assists and three steals.
For L.B. Wallace, Shawntal Byrd scored seven points.
The Wallace State men open ACCC action against Marion Military on Monday at 7:30 p.m.
Both Wallace State teams host Gadsden State on Thursday, beginning with the women’s game at 5:30 p.m.
Burdette believes his team is ready to prove its worth inside the conference.
“We’ve been 15-3 in what we call the preseason, so I feel we’re in good shape. We’ve got a big one Thursday,” Burdette said. “I’ve been preaching to our team that they have a chance to be the best one to come through here in a few years. I think this team is better than our state championship team in 2010. I don’t know if we’ve quite the heart that team had, but I think we’re getting there.”
For more information about Wallace State athletics, visit wallacestate.edu.