BELMONT, N.C. – Tonight's rivalry game between Queens University of Charlotte and Belmont Abbey College (4-2, 5-7) lived up to the hype with a thriller going down to the wire at The Wheeler Center. The Royals (4-1, 5-6) fell in an exciting game that saw two overtimes by a score of 87-81.
Last year the Royals lost both conference games to the Crusaders. The last win for the Royals against Belmont Abbey came in the 2008-2009 season when Queens won 58-51 at The Wheeler Center. Marissa Hudley (Charlotte, N.C., Harding University ) led all scorers in the win with 22 points as the Royals broke the Crusaders four-game winning streak at the time.
Tonight's loss places Queens tied with Mount Olive in second place in Conference Carolinas. Barton College, who the Royals will face on Tuesday, January 18th, is in first place with a 6-0 conference record.
Both teams proved to be evenly matched keeping the score close throughout the first period. The largest lead was held by Queens with 6:38 on the clock when Jessica Lewis (Hampton, Va., Bethel) sunk a three-pointer putting the Royals up by five. The Crusaders closed the small margin in the closing minutes of the half entering the break down by one, 33-32.
With a little under eight minutes left in regulation, the Royals found a spark building a nice lead after a seven –to-two run. However, the Royals defense couldn't hold the Crusaders off in the final minutes of play as Belmont Abbey closed the game with an eight-to-two run capped by a game tying lay-up scored by Shayla Jackson. Queens had one last chance to win the game with one second left on the clock but couldn't get a shot off forcing the game into overtime.
Overtime went back and forth much like regulation until Belmont Abbey took the lead by two, 72-70, with 49 seconds on the clock. The Royals continued to attack in the final seconds of play to tie up the game. Queens' Marissa Hudley rebounded the ball after a missed shot and went back up for the put-back getting fouled with four ticks left on the board. Hudley sunk both free-throws forcing a second overtime.
The Crusaders had the upper-hand in the closing minutes of the second overtime. After four ties, Belmont Abbey found room to score six straight points making the score 85-79 with only 25 seconds on the clock. Each team would score one final bucket before the final horn ended the game.
Marissa Hudley led the Royals with 28 points and 10 rebounds. Shonice Pettaway scored 17 points and grabbed seven boards. Dyonna Battle and Jessica Lewis netted 13 and 10, respectively.
Leading all scorers this evening was Belmont Abbey's Shayla Jackson with 31 points. Jackson also had a game high 19 rebounds and nine assists leaving her within a hair of a triple-double. Kelsey Long scored 21 points and had nine rebounds. Candace Fox scored 14 points, while Melisa Foures chipped in 11.
The Royals will travel to Misenheimer, N.C., to face another rival, Pfeiffer University, on Saturday in a game slated to begin at 5:30 p.m.
