THOMASVILLE, Ga. – The Night Hawks took on the Point University Skyhawks in a matchup between two teams fighting for position in the SSAC standings.
The first quarter was rough for the Night Hawks as they fell behind early with Point going on a 15-2 run to start out the game, but Thomas began to get some offense going as the quarter came to a close. Being down double-digits,
Aaliyah Ringold gave a spark to Thomas as she knocked down back-to-back threes to bring the deficit down to four. After trading layups, the Skyhawks drained a three to raise the lead to seven. Another round of trading shots later, back-to-back threes put them up by 13 with 4:05 left in the half. Point continued to cushion the lead, matching the Night Hawks shot for shot, going into the locker room with an 11-point lead.
The Skyhawks came out shooting in the third quarter with another sequence of back-to-back three pointers. With 7:02 to go, the Night Hawks were staring down a 17-point deficit, with no life on the offensive end. Then
Kennedy Collins lit a spark with a three to give Thomas their first points of the half, then
Destiny Hill forced a steal and
Sophia D'Amaro made a tough layup to bring the lead down to 12, another three from Point looked to be a dagger, but the Night Hawks stood firm as D'Amaro made a mid-range jumper, and then
Jamia Brown got a steal and after a couple of offensive rebounds
LaTarius Montgomery made a layup to continue to chip away at the lead. Following a made free throw, Collins again answered the call, banking a three off the glass to cut the lead down to single digits. Another free throw later and the Night Hawks were again down by double-digits, but they kept fighting as
Jasmyn Studamire got fouled and made both of her free throw attempts to go down by only eight. Forcing a turnover, Studamire found Montgomery inside again for quick layup to be down by six, then another steal by Montgomery, gave the Night Hawks another possession, and this time Ringold answered with a huge three to make it a one possession game. The defense came up big again with a steal by Studamire and later Hill found her in the paint again for layup to put the Night Hawks one point away from the lead. Point went down the court for a layup and missed with Montgomery grabbing the rebound and then on the other end Studamire found Montgomery and she made a tough layup to give Thomas their first lead of the game. However, a made free throw from the Skyhawks gave them back the lead, carrying it into the end of the quarter.
The final quarter began with Point going to line, making only one of two, giving them a two-point lead, on the next possession Montgomery went to the line, netting only one on the trip. Both teams traded the lead for the next couple of possessions and then Collins made a clutch three, to put Thomas up two with 6:10 to go. Point snatched the lead back after a couple of trips to the charity stripe, but Ringold knocked down a layup to tie the game, then a possession later Collins knocked down another three to go ahead by three with 3:25 left in the game. Bolton added some cushion with a layup of her own and Montgomery added in one as well. The Skyhawks did not go away as they brought the lead down to four with 36 seconds on the clock, after a foul sent Ringold to the line where she made both of her attempts, a three from Point put them within one possession with 28 seconds left, on the ensuing inbound, Hill was fouled and went to the line where she also made both. With one last chance the Night Hawks got the stop and Ringold was fouled and she made both shots to ice the game.
Montgomery finished with a double-double, having 15 points and 14 rebounds, she also had three steals and four blocks. Ringold was the leading scorer with 19 points, two rebounds, four assists and a steal, she was 3-3 from deep. Finally, Collins ended with 16 points, three rebounds, two blocks and a steal.
The Night Hawks will face another team near the middle of the pack in the SSAC as they travel to take on Blue Mountain Christian University on Thursday, January 30
th at 6:30pm.
