MONTEVALLO, Ala. -- With a roster full of freshmen and first-year players, Miles head women's basketball coach
Phillip Wallace, Jr. probably did not know quite what to expect when his team opened the 2017-18 season at the Montevallo Challenge against host Montevallo Saturday afternoon.
What he saw was several dominant stretches of team play, and a lot of turnovers (27), but also the fortitude to fight off any charges from the Falcons in the second half as the Lady Bears secured a 70-61 win at Trustmark Arena. It was the second straight year that Miles (1-0) has opened the season with a victory and the second consecutive season that Montevallo (0-1) has dropped a game to the Lady Bears.
Sophomore guard
Victoria Sutton scored a game-high 17 points, sophomore guard
Najla Shamsid-Deen added 16 points, five rebounds, five steals and four assists, and junior forward Jasmine Hollis - one of the six newcomers - had 14 points (on 5-of-7 shooting) and a game high 12 rebounds for the Lady Bears.
Miles put its stamp on the game from the start, scoring the first eight points and racing out to a 22-4 lead when Darika Chelsey (seven points) nailed a 3-pointer with 3:11 left in the first quarter. Montevallo had just one field goal over the first eight minutes and committed nine turnovers that led to 11 points for the Lady Bears. Miles led 27-11 after the first quarter and opened up a lead as large as 21 points in the second quarter before the Falcons started to mount a comeback. An 8-0 run late in the half was stemmed when Frantisha Tyson (four points, two assists, two steals) scored right before the horn to send Miles to the locker room with a 38-25 advantage.
Things got interesting in the second half as the Falcons were able to get to within six points late in the third quarter. But two minutes into the fourth quarter, with their lead down to eight points, the Golden Bears used another big run to take control. Miles scored 10 straight points - highlighted by a 3-pointer from Hollis and punctuated by a jumper from
Taylor Terry (four points, five rebounds, four blocked shots) - over the next five minutes to give it a 60-42 advantage and ultimately seal the victory.
Miles will close out the Montevallo Challenge when it takes on Auburn Montgomery Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
