2/3/2024 Louisville, Ky- The Westminster College women's basketball team traveled to Louisville, Kentucky to take on the Spalding University Golden Eagles. After a hot start by the Golden Eagles, the Blue Jays would regain the lead and pull away to win the game 62-53. Westminster has won seven straight games and improved to 12-9 overall on the season and 10-4 in the SLIAC. Spalding falls to 9-12 overall and 7-7 in the SLIAC.
The Golden Eagles would rain down three-pointers in the game's early goings, going up 10-4 midway through the first quarter. The Blue Jays would go on a run to get back to 13-10 with 3:25 left in the quarter. Spalding would hit a three in the last seconds of the first quarter to go up 18-12, stunning the Blue Jays.
Westminster would throw a counterpunch down in the home of Muhammad Ali in the second quarter and showed why they are one of the top teams in the SLIAC. They would hold the Golden Eagles to just 8 points and would explode for 23 points on offense. The Blue Jays started the quarter on a 10-3 run to regain the lead, 22-21 with 6 minutes to play before the half. They would increase their lead to 9 points as they headed to the locker room leading 35-26.
Seniors Caragan Lockard and Avylina Powell-Qualo scored the first seven points of the half for the Blue Jays to give them their largest lead at 42-29. Spalding would rally late in the quarter to cut the Westminster lead down to 5 points as the 3rd quarter came to a close with the Blue Jays on top 48-43.
The Golden Eagles would get it to 4 points early in the fourth quarter, 50-46, after getting to the free throw line. Both teams would go cold for the next three minutes of game time, with neither team able to find a bucket. Powell-Qualo would get to the free throw line snapping the scoreless streak, putting the Blue Jays up 52-46 with 5 minutes left to play. Westminster would win the game with a final score of 62-53.
Avylina Powell-Qualo led the Blue Jays offense with a season and career-high 22 points and 5 rebounds. Caragan Lockard had 14 points and 5 rebounds as the Blue Jays dominated the paint. They would have 38 points in the paint and out-rebounded the Golden Eagles 40-37.
The Blue Jays will be back in action on Tuesday, February 6th when they host Principia College. The game is scheduled to begin at 5:30 pm.
