Score: Keiser 52, William Carey 51
Records: Keiser (4-0), William Carey (1-1)
Location: Turner Athletic
Center, Lake Wales, Fla.
Keiser Starters: Shykim Gillion (G),
Kennedy Schlabach (G),
Janiece Thomas (F),
Elise Ellison-Coons (F),
Andressa Nascimento (F).
William Carey Starters: McKinley Seal (G), Rebekah Engle (F), Kolten Blakeney (F), Lauren Rowley (G), Gabrielle Gallup (G).
A defensive stand in the final 15 seconds of the game led the Keiser women's basketball team to its fourth straight win as the Seahawks defeated the William Carey Crusaders, 52-51, during the 2022 SUN/SSAC Crossover Challenge in Lake Wales, Florida. The Seahawks used 30 points from 3-point range to come away with the one-point victory. For the second straight year and the third time since the 2008-09 season, Keiser opens the year at 4-0.
A defensive stand the Seahawks with 15 seconds left in the game forced a errant 3-pointer by the Crusaders, sealing the team's fourth straight victory to start the season.
Keiser 12, William Carey 11
- Elise Ellison-Coons got the scoring started with the games first bucket (9:27).
- The Crusaders jumped out to a 7-2 lead following a 3-pointer by Rebekah Engle with 5:40 on the game clock.
- A 3-pointer by Julia Fitzwater cut the WCU lead to two, 9-7, with just under four minutes left in the first.
- The Seahawks tied the game at 9-9 following a layup by Elliana Schaefer (1:54).
- Madelyn Lander gave the Crusaders the one-point advantage with a jumper in the paint but Schaefer responded with a bucket from downtown to give KU a 12-11 lead.
Keiser 29, William Carey 21
- Schaefer opened the second quarter scoring with another 3-pointer, giving Keiser a 15-11 lead with 9:11 remaining in the half.
- WCU tied the game, 17-17, on a layup by Kolten Blakeney (7:27).
- Fitzwater drained a 3-pointer with 5:30 on the game clock to give the Seahawks a 20-17 lead.
- After a layup by Kyley Seals with 1:26 left in the half, Kesier scored back-to-back buckets - a 3-pointer by Janiece Thomas and a layup by Shykim Gillion - to head into halftime up by eight.
- Schaefer led all Seahawks with eight points, including two buckets from downtown after one half of action.
- Taylor Jones grabbed a team-high four boards and Kennedy Schlabach dished out a team-best four assists in the first 20 minutes of action.
Keiser 41, William Carey 36
- Gillion drained the first bucket of the second half to push the Keiser lead to 10, 31-21 (9:42).
- The Crusaders scored on back-to-back possessions to cut the Seahawk lead to 31-25 with 7:06 left in the third.
- Leading by six, 33-27, with 5:25 on the game clock, Schlabach hit a 3-pointer to give Keiser a nine-point advantage (36-27).
- Engle pulled WCU within four points with 3-pointer, 38-34, with just under three minutes on the game clock.
- Schlabach countered with a triple of her own to bring the lead back to nine, 41-34, with 2:16 left in the third quarter.
- Seal scored the final points of the quarter with a pair of made free throw (00:05).
Keiser 52, William Carey 51
- WCU's Blakeney made it just a one-possession game with a made jumper, 41-38, with 9:18 left to play.
- Schlabach hit consecutive 3-pointers to make it a nine-point game, 47-38.
- Another 3-pointer by the Seahawks - this time by Schaefer - gave KU a 10-point lead, 50-40, with 4:54 left in regulation.
- Gillion made the score 52-42 with a made jumper with 3:39 left on the game clock.
- The Crusaders went on a 9-0 run capped off with a 3-pointer by Gabrielle Gallup (00:45) to make it a one-point game, 52-51.
- A missed layup by Ellison-Coons gave WCU a chance to take the lead with just 15 second remaining.
- Engle attempted a 3-pointer with two second on the game clock however the shot missed and caromed out-of-bounds.
- The Seahawks called timeout to bring the ball to the front court and a inbound pass to Gillion in the backcourt ran out the clock and gave KU its fourth straight win.
- The win moves Keiser to 4-0 on the season.
- The Seahawks have now started the season 4-0 for the second consecutive year and just the third time since 2008-09
- The win was the second for Keiser away from the Student Life Center this season.
- The win improves KU to 1-0 all-time versus the Crusaders.
- William Carey is the second of two first-time opponents the Seahawks faced this weekend.
- With the win, the Seahawks are 54-61 all-time versus first-time opponents.
- The win marks the first victory for the Seahawks over at team from the state of Mississippi (1-0 all-time).
- With the win, Keiser finished the SUN/SSAC Crossover Challenge, 2-0.
- The Sun Conference finished 3-5 over the span of the second day of the challenge and 6-10 overall (Keiser was responsible for two of the conference's six wins).
- Kennedy Schlabach led all Seahawks with a game-high 13 points on 4-of-10 shooting (all four buckets from 3-point range).
- Schlabach also led Keiser with six assists.
- Elise Ellison-Coons grabbed a team-high six rebounds on Saturday.
- Also scoring in double-figures were Elliana Schaefer (11) and Shykim Gillion (10).
- Overall, KU shot 39.2 percent from the field and was 10-of-25 from 3-point range (40.0 percent).
- The 10 made 3-pointers were the most for Keiser since hitting 11 versus Ave Maria last season (1/13/2022).
- It also marked the most 3-pointers by a Keiser team on the road since the Seahawks drained 10 at Ave Maria during the 2016-17 season (2/18/17).
- Ties: 3
- Lead Changes: 2
- Largest Lead: Keiser (10); William Carey (5)
Keiser
William Carey
- Points: Two players (12)
- Rebounds: Kolten Blakeney (12)
- Assists: McKinley Seal (5)
Keiser will host the Thomas Night Hawks in the Seahawk's Sun Conference opener on Thursday, November 10. Game time is set for 5:30 PM
