Box Score by Benny Benton
WILSON, N.C. – Barton College guard Nyeshea Willie surpassed the 30-point total against King University for the second time this season Saturday evening, but the Tornado recorded their best shooting night in nearly three years in claiming a 76-66 Conference Carolinas victory in Wilson Gymnasium.
King (12-6, 6-4) made 31 of 52 shots from the field, 59.6 percent, their best effort since shooting 63 percent in a 91-43 thrashing of Washington Adventist University on Feb. 26, 2011. Barton, meanwhile, managed just 38 percent (27 of 71).
The disparity was even worse in the decisive first half, as the Tornado shot over 70 percent until two misses in the final minute of the period left it at 65 percent for the half (15 of 23), while the Lady Bulldogs (8-11, 5-6) sank just 29.7 percent (11 of 37).
Bonnie Durrett led King with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field, while Jalan Harper added 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Harper also had a game-high nine rebounds, while Durrett pulled down seven. Sydney Harris chipped eight points and eight boards.
Willie, the nation's second-leading scorer, poured in 32 points on Saturday after recording a career-high 39 in her earlier meeting this year with the Tornado. She also handed out five assists and posted six steals. Freshman Tiffany Webster added 12 points, three assists and three steals, and junior Brianna Thomas pulled down a team-high seven rebounds for the Lady Bulldogs.
The first 10 points for Barton all came from Willie, whose 3-pointer with 13:57 left in the first half gave the Lady Bulldogs their last lead of the contest, 10-8. King then went on a 13-0 run to grab a double-digit lead with 9:24 left in the period.
At that point, Barton was shooting 20 percent, having made just 4 of its first 20 attempts. King, meanwhile, was carving up the Lady Bulldogs with the pick-and-roll, and with one-on-one drives for easy layups. The Tornado went nearly eight minutes without a miss from the floor, making eight in a row in pulling out to the 21-10 advantage.
Trailing by nine with just under eight minutes left in the half, Barton used a layup by Kaila Lea, a rare miss by the Tornado, and a three-point play by Caila Carter to pull within four at 23-19 with 7:05 left in the period, but King went on another 10-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Harris, to surge in front by double-digits again, 33-21, with five minutes remaining before intermission.
King's lead grew to 16 with 1:59 left in the half, and the Tornado went to the break leading by 14, 39-25.
Barton, which trailed by double-digits for much of the second half, used a full-court trapping defense in the final five minutes force King into turnovers, and whittled a 12-point deficit down to seven at 69-62 on the second of two Willie free throws with 3:10 left.
The two teams then traded layups, Harper making one for King and Webster sinking one for the Lady Bulldogs, to leave the margin at seven, 71-64, with 2:15 to go. However, the Tornado got another layup from Chelsea Bowling, and Barton missed a jumper on the other end, effectively killing any last hope for a rally.
Barton forced King into 20 turnovers in the contest, and outscored the Tornado 17 to 8 on points off turnovers. However, King outrebounded the Lady Bulldogs 40 to 29 in the contest, and its bench outscored Barton's by a large 32 to 8 margin.
The Lady Bulldogs complete their three-game home stand on Thursday, Feb. 6, when they host Belmont Abbey College in a 5:30 p.m. contest at the Dog House.
