PENSACOLA, Fla. (November 19, 2010) - Tera
McDaniel poured in a career-high 18 points to lead the Rollins
women's basketball team past Montevallo 68-65 at the West Florida
Classic on Friday.
Rollins improves to 3-0 on the young season while the Lady
Falcons fall to 1-2.
McDaniel was 6-of-10 from the field, including a 3-pointer, and
made good on 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Her 18 points
surpasses the Orlando native's previous career-high of 10 set
against Fort Valley State to open the season. Amber
Heistan netted 15 points and snared a game-high nine rebounds
while freshman Sarah
Blackburn added 10 off the bench.
Jessica Collins and Taylor Welch each netted 12 off the bench to
lead Montevallo.
The game got off to a slow start with the score knotted at 8-8
five minutes in. Heistan hit a pair from the line at the 14:43 mark
to put the Tars ahead and spark an 8-2 run, giving Rollins a 17-10
advantage halfway through the first period. UM quickly closed the
gap to one, 17-14, but Rollins pulled away and were up by as much
as eight in the final seconds of the half before a Welch
buzzer-beater made the score 35-30 in favor of the Tars at
intermission.
In the second half, Blackburn scored a stick-back after two
straight misses to again put Rollins up eight, 42-34 with 16
minutes to play. The offense then went stagnant with no field goals
for the next eight minutes, but the Falcons didn't take advantage
and a McDaniel lay-in with 8:06 to play put Rollins up 51-40.
Montevallo outscored Rollins 19-5 over the next five minutes and
used a Welch triple to take a 59-56 lead. Blackburn scored a layup
on the ensuing possession and got the Tars to within one and the
defense got a big stop on the other end with 1:47 to play. McDaniel
drew a foul on the Tars next trip down the floor and hit both free
throws to put Rollins ahead 60-59. After a McDaniel layup put the
Tars up three with 58 ticks left, Collins scored to again for UM to
make it a one-point game. Heistan hit a 3-pointer to answer and the
Tars made three straight free throws down the stretch to hold on
for the win.
Rollins shot 43 percent (23-53) in the game and held the Falcons
to 41 percent (24-58). Rollins won the battle on the boards
37-33.
Rollins will complete the West Florida Tip-off Classic against
Allen University on Saturday, Nov. 20 at 3 p.m.
