By Robert Hudson

The Selma Times-Journal

The Wallace Community College-Selma Lady Patriots relied on smothering second-half defense to remain undefeated, as they topped the Huntingdon College Lady Hawks 63-43 at home Wednesday night.

Lady Patriots’ (3-0) head coach April Harper said her team made some second half adjustments that helped them pull away after going into halftime leading 31-24.

“After halftime, we started cutting down on our turnovers, we started contesting their shots on the wing, hustling more and we started driving to the basket,” Harper said.

“That’s what contributed to our win tonight. I’m very proud of them. They played as a team.”

The Lady Patriots came out the gate on fire, jumping out to a 8-1 lead early in the first half, but the Lady Hawks would fight back, and tie the game at 10-10.

But the Wallace would hit a key stretch in the game with 6:10 left in the half, going on a 10-0 run to jump out to a 27-13 lead, fueled by buckets from Manasha Vick and Ashley Grimes.

The Lady Patriots would come out in the second half and go on a 13-2 run to put the game out of reach, with Vick leading the way with five points during the stretch.

Vick led Wallace in scoring on the night with 17, while Brandi Jones had a double-double, with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Ebony Smith added 12 points for the Lady Patriots.

Harper said her team will have to keep up the hard work in order to maintain the success on the court and remain undefeated.

“We’ve just got to get in here everyday and keep playing hard,” Harper said. “You’ve got to play hard every game and in practice, do what you’re asked to do and execute it on the court.”