Eagles Best Koalas in AAC Road Matchup

By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media

Photo Courtesy of Greg Spell/G-RoxPhotos.com

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Women's basketball held off Columbia (S.C.) after Abi Haynes scored a career-high 29 points on Tuesday night – an effort that was too much for the Koalas to handle in an 86-81 road win in South Carolina.

Reinhardt (8-5) got back to its winning ways after rebounding from defeat last weekend at Bryan (Tenn.).

Two other Eagles, Marlie Townley (14 points) and Catherine Shope (10) hit double figures on the scoreboard as their squad improved to 8-5 within the Appalachian Athletic Conference.

The hosts of the conference clash fell down by as many as seven tallies in the opening period, but were able to gather themselves and finish the quarter strong by fighting back to tie the score at 26-26 in the final seconds after a 3-pointer.

Roles would be reversed in the second stanza as Columbia continued its strong play en route to a five-point lead three minutes into the period. The hometown club would then flip a switch and roll to a six-tally advantage – 41-35 – before heading to the locker room ahead by four.

The Koalas wouldn't be able to flip the momentum in the third quarter this time, as Reinhardt was able to get ahead of Columbia by seven points on multiple occasions. The Koalas didn't give up, however, and ended the stanza on a small run to get back within a trey at 63-60.

The fourth-and-final 10-minute stretch would belong to the Eagles after they took complete control of the outcome and pushed their cushion to double figure multiple times – as high as 12 points – and cruised to the road win.

Columbia would try its best to get back in the contest, but it was too little, too late.

Reinhardt connected on 30-of-67 shots for 44.8 percent but missed 10 free throws on 32 attempts.

Individually, Haynes (squad-best six assists) also tied for the team lead in rebounds with eight along with Symone Williams. The Eagles, however, were outrebounded as a group, 48-39, but still found alternate ways to come out on top.

The Koalas were forced into 21 turnovers in defeat.

More schedule changes have occurred for women's basketball, so Senior Night will now be celebrated on Thursday evening against Bluefield (Va.).

Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. 

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