BELMONT, N.C. – A sluggish opening quarter haunted the Chowan Women's Basketball team against the top of the standings, Belmont Abbey, in a Conference Carolinas contest on Monday evening.

THE BASICS

FINAL | Chowan 55, Belmont Abbey 66

RECORDS | Chowan 10-6 (6-4), Belmont Abbey 12-3 (9-0)

LOCATION | Belmont, N.C. (Wheeler Center)

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

Belmont Abbey, ranked fifth in the D2SIDA Southeast Regional poll, posted 26 points in the opening quarter along with Chowan shooting 16.7% in the fourth quarter.

Destiny Robinson led the Hawks with 19 points with five rebounds and three blocks.  Imani Hickman added 10 points and eight rebounds.  Meara Carter notched six points and eight rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Quarter:

Belmont Abbey started the contest on a 9-0 run before Meara Carter hit a layup for the first basket of the contest for the Hawks.  Destiny Robinson hit a turnaround jumper along with a jumper by Tyaysia Sharpe.  The Crusaders pushed their lead to double-figures, 16-6, midway through the opening frame.

Yasmine Brown connected from the floor before Demetria Bland knocked down a triple to cut into the deficit, 19-11.  Belmont Abbey held the Hawks scoreless over a two minute stretch before Imani Hickman hit a layup.  Aniah Patterson hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to cut the deficit to 26-16.

Second Quarter:

Destiny Robinson went 1-2 from the charity stripe to open the frame.  Meara Carter and Destiny Robinson added a layup.  Aniah Patterson picked up a point from the stripe to cut the deficit to 32-22.

Imani Hickman ended a scoring drought with a layup to spark an 11-2 run.  Destiny Robinson hit a layup to trim the deficit back to single-digits, 35-26.  Aniah Patterson connected from deep before Hickman added a pair from the stripe to keep closing the gap.  Robinson tallied a pair from the stripe to end the half, 37-33.

Third Quarter:

Belmont Abbey started the half with five quick points before Destiny Robinson countered with three straight baskets.  Demetria Bland connected from deep to trim the deficit to 46-42.

Imani Hickman offset the Crusader basket with a putback basket.  Belmont Abbey rattled off six straight points to push their lead to double-figures.  Hickman ended the run with a layup to trail 54-46 at the end of the frame.

Fourth Quarter:

The Hawks were unable to knock down shots in the frame going 2-12.  Demetria Bland ended the scoreless streak with a jumper to trim the deficit to 58-48.  Meara Carter posted a layup before Destiny Robinson picked up four points from the stripe.  Aniah Patterson went 1-2 from the stripe to close the gap to 63-55 with 47 seconds remaining.

UP NEXT

Chowan hits the road to take on Lees-McRae on Saturday, January 21.  Tip-off is slated for 2pm.