McCrear unstoppable in Lady Bears win
FORT VALLEY, Ga. -- Miles head coach
Phillip Wallace, Jr. has been waiting all season for junior transfer
Ashley McCrear to show her Division I pedigree. Monday night, the Jackson State transfer delivered the goods.
McCrear used an assortment of drives to the basket, midrange jumpers and post moves to score a career-high 31 points in the Lady Bears 70-54 win over Fort Valley State at HPE Complex. The win brought Miles' conference record back to .500 (11-12, 6-6 SIAC) and kept it in good position to earn the West Division No. 2 seed for the upcoming conference tournament.
Miles had complete control of the game early, taking a 21-10 lead after the first quarter and opening a 33-12 advantage midway through the second quarter. Things were going the wrong way for FVSU so coach Lonnie Bartley decided to make his team run sprints during a timeout. That seemed to have a positive effect for the Lady Wildcats, who cut the deficit to 36-20 at halftime and were within 54-47 with less than eight minute remaining.
But from there, McCrear went back to work. The Lady Bears began running isolation plays for the guard and she worked her magic, scoring nine points over the last seven minutes to help Miles seal the win and sweep the season series from the Lady Wildcats.
Shekiya Tarpkins scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds to pace Fort Valley State.
Larian Scott had 18 points,
Alexis Jones added seven points, and
Morgan Hardy had two points, a game-high 13 rebounds, and two blocks for Miles, which hosts Paine for Senior Day on Saturday at Bill Harris Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.
