WBB2K22: Hoops Report 6

Georgia Tech 72, Kennesaw State 45

Georgia Tech led Kennesaw State 34-17 at the half in its home opener. Lorela Cubaj had 10 rebounds and eight points at that point. Her teammate Eylia Love had nine points and five boards at the intermission. The Georgia Tech defense limited Kennesaw State to 28 percent shooting from the field as the visiting team shot 7-25 in the first half.

At the end of the third quarter Georgia Tech led 59-31 as Elizabete Bulane scored on both of her three-point attempts in the period to fuel the Yellow Jackets continued dominance.

A good thing happened for Kennesaw State with just under seven minutes to play, when Amani Johnson scored her 1,001st career point making the score 60-33. At that point she had 10 points in a team high 32 minutes of action at that point. Both teams finished the game on a 12-12 tie from that point as Georgia Tech held on to the victory.

Cubaj finished the contest with 15 rebounds, 12 points, five assists, two blocks and a steal. Love ended the night with 11 points shooting 5-9 along with five boards, a block and a steals. The Yellow Jackets got a very balanced effort as three other players scored at least eight points. Center Nerea Hermosa had nine points, 10 rebounds, two steals and a block.

Johnson scored 12 points with seven rebounds, four assists and one block for Kennesaw State. She played a game high 38 minutes.

Belmont 62, Ole Miss 50

Belmont improved to 2-0 toppling host Ole Miss in front of 1,688 fans. The winners outscored the Rebels 16-3 in the first quarter to take control of things. Destinee Wells led the way with 21 points and six assists. Conley Chinn followed Wells up with 11 points and Tuti Jones chipped in 10 points, with five rebounds and four steals. Reserve forward Tessa Miller gave Belmont a quality performance off of the bench with six points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Mississippi's star center Shakira Austin struggled shooting 2-9 from the field with five points. She shared the team lead with Madison Scott as both players had eight rebounds. Scott scored a team best 16 points. She led all players with six steals as well. Mimi Reid came off the bench to score 12 points, shooting a perfect 3-3 from the field and 6-6 from the free-throw line.

Belmont had 17 points off of turnovers where Ole Miss had just eight.

Kentucky 98, North Alabama 56

The Wildcats thrilled their 3,444 fans as they outrebounded visiting North Alabama 50-27 in a 42-point beatdown. The talented Rhyne Howard posted a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds in the victory. She also led her squad with three blocks and three steals.

Dre'una Edwards posted a game high 27 points, shooting 12-18 from the field. Jada Walker had an efficient game off of the bench for UK with 13 points, five assists and just one turnover. Treasure Hunt shared the team lead in rebounds with Howard as she also pulled down 10 boards. Kentucky seemed to do everything right as it took care of the ball dishing out 18 assists and just nine turnovers.

North Alabama had 13 assists and 21 turnovers. Despite the loss two players showed promise during the game. Macey Lee had a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds and Patrycia Jaworska posted 10 points, five rebounds and five assists for North Alabama.

Bowling Green 90, East Tennessee 58

Bowling Green shot 14-28 from three and made 75 percent of its 24 free-throw attempts in a big night for the offense to win its season opener against East Tennessee. Bowling Green's Kadie Hempfling made 7-10 overall shots including 6-7 from three to score a game leading 20 points, to go along with seven rebounds, three assists and a block. Nyla Hampton scored 15 points while making half of her four three-point attempts. Madisen Parker came off of the bench to shoot 3-6 from three, scoring nine points.

East Tennessee couldn't keep up, shooting 5-25 from three and 30 percent overall from the floor. Its top performance came from Jakhyia Davis who scored 15 points and hauled down eight rebounds.