LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- Rachel Thomas poured in 15 points off the bench to go with 11 rebounds as the Covenant women's basketball team defeated Wesleyan, 61-50, on Saturday afternoon from the Barnes PE Center.
Covenant improves to 5-7 on the season and 2-1 in the USA South. The Scots have now defeated Wesleyan 11 straight times as the Wolves fall to 0-12 and 0-4 in the conference.
The double-double was the first of the year for Thomas who paced the Scots in both categories. Hannah Monday threw in 12 points of her own as Margo Koby recorded 11.
Ruthie Moore had another strong performance coming close to a triple-double again with seven points, nine assists, and nine steals.
The two teams started the game struggling to get anything going offensively. Natera Perkins got the first bucket of the game and the Wolves went on a, 6-0, run to start the contest.
Covenant answered with a 12-0 spurt that lasted over nine minutes as they took a 12-6 lead on a Margo Koby layup with 7:58 left in the first half. Wesleyan trimmed the lead to one on a Nia Sellers jumper with 2:34 to go before the break.
The Scots then extended it back out to six on a Michaela Price layup off a Moore assist but the Wolves responded with a basket in the final minute to cut the Covenant lead to 23-19 going into the break.
Wesleyan came out of the half and trimmed the lead to one with 8:22 left in the third on a Perkins free throw and the Scots responded with a 9-2 run capped off by an Elissa Moore 3-pointer off a Ruthie Moore assist to stretch the lead to 11 with 2:45 to go in the quarter.
In the final period, Wesleyan trimmed the lead to six on a Perkins bucket but the Wolves could not get any closer. The Scots answered with an 11-2 spurt to take a 16 point lead, the largest of the game, with 6:27 remaining on a Cosette Kirsch conventional three-point play.
Koby proved to be a difference-maker in the final quarter, pouring in 10 of her 11 points in the final 10 minutes, going 5-for-5 from the floor.
Davina Brown and Jamila Ra-Hashim posted 14 points each to lead the Wolves and Perkins rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11. Ta'Liyah Slocumb had nine rebounds to go with five steals to lead Wesleyan. Brown and Ashanty Hightower recorded four assists each to pace the team.
Covenant had 20 assists on 23 made shots. The Scots also posted a season-high 20 steals, on 27 Wesleyan turnovers, led by Moore with nine while Koby and Thomas had four each.
Covenant shot 23-for-61 (37.7 percent) overall while going 4-for-13 (30.8 percent) from behind the 3-point line. The Scots posted a 73.3 percent (11-for-15) effort from the free-throw line.
Wesleyan shot 36.2 percent (21-of-58) from the floor and a cold 17.6 percent (3-for-17) from distance. The Wolves shot only 5-of-7 (71.4 percent) from the free-throw line.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE GAME
UP NEXT
The Scots travel down to LaGrange on Wednesday for a USA South matchup. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
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