Wallace State’s women’s basketball team pulls 2nd straight tournament upset, advances to ACCC semis
HANCEVILLE, ALA. – Wallace State’s women’s basketball team pulled its second consecutive upset in the Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC) postseason on Tuesday afternoon, prevailing 62-58 over Southern Union in the ACCC/NJCAA Region 22 tournament quarterfinal round at Tom Drake Coliseum.
Wallace State freshman guard Kelsey Houston continued her torrid postseason shooting, finishing with 17 points, and sophomore Hannah Vest added 11 as the sixth-seeded Lions avenged a pair of regular-season losses to the No. 2 seed Lady Bison.
After prevailing 53-51 in a play-in game at Chattahoochee Valley over the weekend, Wallace State (13-19) kept the postseason momentum rolling as the calendar flipped to March. The Lady Lions, who never trailed on Tuesday, led 10-4 after the first quarter and 29-20 at the half.
Wallace State now advances to play Snead State in the ACCC semifinal round at 1 p.m. Thursday. The division foes split a pair of regular-season meetings.
“I’m very pleased with our team. We could have easily laid down when the postseason started considering how many times we’ve been knocked down and punched around. I think we’ve grown up though and maybe at the right time,” said Wallace State women’s coach Ron Burdette, whose team snapped a five-game losing streak over the weekend. “We are still alive. We were able to survive and advance. Some of our players might not understand what March Madness is all about, but they do now.”
Wallace State has reached the ACCC semis in all five seasons under Burdette, including last year’s conference runner-up team that received an at-large national tournament bid and won a first-round game in Kansas.
Houston, a Tanner High graduate, sparked the Lady Lions in the first half, hitting three 3-pointers. Houston and Vest drained 3’s on consecutive possessions early in the second quarter for Wallace State, giving the Lady Lions a 22-8 cushion with 6:31 to go before half.
Wallace State pushed its lead to 29-10 with 3:32 to go after a Vest layup.
Southern Union (21-7) scored the final 10 points of the first half.
Wallace State led 35-25 with 5:46 remaining in the third quarter after a Morgan Higgins’ 3-pointer, and the Lady Lions controlled a 42-32 advantage with 2:42 left.
Once again, Southern Union closed a quarter strong, using a 9-1 run throughout the rest of the period to trim its deficit to 43-41 after three.
Wallace State answered right back early in the fourth. Vest hit a 3 from the top of the key for a 50-45 advantage, and Jemaiya Lee hit three free throws with 6:16 to go for the Lady Lions, extending their lead to 53-45.
With 4:11 remaining, Alex Lowery’s lone field goal of the game pushed Wallace State’s lead to 56-47.
Southern Union got within three points with 15.4 seconds to go, but Lee hit two more free throws seconds later to ice the win.
Lee, a freshman from Spain Park, finished with seven points and nine rebounds. Velencia Johnson added seven points and nine boards for the Lady Lions.
Houston led Wallace State in scoring for the second game in a row after pouring in a career-high 24 in the win at CVCC. She drained eight 3’s in the play-in game and went 4 for 7 from behind the arc against Southern Union.
“Kelsey has found her shooting stroke. Her shots aren’t even hitting the rim. It’s been nothing but net. That’s what she did at Tanner and why I recruited her here,” Burdette said. “I’m proud of the entire team. They’ve been playing their guts out.”
Kendall Adams paced Southern Union with a game-high 19 points. Alecia North added 10.
The women’s ACCC championship is set for Friday at 4 p.m.
Wallace State’s 19th-ranked men’s team opens quarterfinal action against Alabama Southern at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
For more information on the tournament, visit www.wallacestate.edu/accctourney or www.acccathletics.com.
For more information about Wallace State athletics, visit http://athletics.wallacestate.edu/
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Russell Moore
Staff Writer
Wallace State Community College
P.O. Box 2000, Hanceville, AL 35077
1-866-350-9722 256-352-8443 direct
Russell.Moore@wallacestate.edu
Visit us online at www.wallacestate.edu