LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- After taking leads into halftime the last two games and not being able to hold onto them, the Covenant women's basketball team ensured that wouldn't happen again as they used a big second half to defeat Mary Baldwin 85-44 in a USA South game Friday night.
The Scots (2-15, 2-7 USA South) hit a season-high 12 3-pointers and put four players in double figures, led by Haley Soles' 20, and had four other players score at least seven.
Both teams started sluggishly, missing a combined 10 straight shots after Soles started the game with a 3-pointer. Soles hit another 3 to give Covenant a 7-0 lead with 16:54 left in the first half.
Mary Baldwin (0-12, 0-6 USA South) cut the lead to 11-8 before Covenant went on another mini-run, this time scoring five straight points to take a 16-8 lead with 10:14 to play. From that point, the lead was never less than six as the Scots ended the half on an 11-2 run capped by Soles 3 at the buzzer for a 33-18 lead going into the break.
Covenant shot 33.3 percent in the half while Mary Baldwin was held to just 18.9 percent from the floor.
In the second half, the Scots came out of the gate quickly to hit nine of their first 14 shots and went on a 37-7 run that ended with 6:40 to play. The lead at that point was 70-25, and it was just a matter of putting the game on cruise control and coasting to the easy victory.
Soles hit six more triples on the night, bringing her total in the last three games to 19. She has hit 22 of her last 39 3-point attempts, spanning four games.
Four Covenant players established personal bests during the game: Alex Quimby came off the bench to score a career-high 15 points, while Clara Dirkse bested her previous high by scoring 10. Abbey Bailey pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds and Morgan Woodward handed out 11 assists, which was three better than her previous career-best. Woodward ended with seven points, five rebounds and four steals to go along with her 11 assists.
For Mary Baldwin, they were led by the 13 points of Imani Hill and Kaybria Johnson while Teanna Peavy edged Bailey's rebound total with 18 of her own.
Covenant is back in action when they look to make it two in a row against Meredith on Saturday at 2 p.m. inside Barnes PE Center,
