BREVARD, N.C. - Senior guard Josie Hester broke an eight-year record with her 74th made 3-pointer of the season as the Brevard College women's basketball team (17-5, 12-3 USA South) held off Pfeiffer University (11-11, 8-7 USAS) 74-61 on Tuesday night at Merner Gymnasium in Misenheimer, North Carolina.
With 53 seconds left in the first period, Hester connected on her third 3-pointer of the game, bringing her season total to 74. This 3-pointer set a new BC WBB single-season NCAA-era record, as Hester passed Annalee Bollinger's previous record of 73 made 3-pointers (2016-17). Hester's 74 3's this season are the most by a BC WBB student-athlete since Kris May-Richardson drilled 96 3-pointers (2004-05) in the NAIA-era 20 years ago.
Jada Petty Wilkins led all Tornados with a 17-point performance, knocking in a season-high and matching her career-high with five 3-pointers made. Hester stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, eight rebounds, eight rebounds, three assists, and three steals, while Lexi Shepard (14 points) and Makenna Parkins (11 points) also scored double figures. Naliyah Boyce rounded out the starting five of BC, scoring six points while grabbing a game-high 10 boards.
Pfeiffer was led by a 30-point performance from Hannah Isley. Ava Hairston added 18 points, as the duo combined for 48 of the Falcons' 61 total points.
The Tornados got off to a hot start, knocking in 7-of-8 shots from the field in the first five minutes of play to open up a 15-4 margin. Hester led the way through the early goings with a pair of 3-pointers. BC maintained its lead, taking a 24-14 lead into the second period.
Pfeiffer cut the deficit all the way down to three points with a 7-0 run of its own, but Brevard punched back with a 7-1 spurt to push its lead back to nine, 31-22 at the 4:49 mark of the second quarter. The last four minutes of the first half were low scoring, with BC holding a nine-point cushion at the break, 33-24.
Hester led all Tornados with 11 points at the break, going 4-for-5 from the field and a perfect 3-for-3 from distance. Shepard added eight points with Naliyah Boyce grabbing six boards.
Petty-Wilkins hit her third 3-pointer of the contest as BC opened back up a 14-point lead with 4:37 left to go in the third period. The Tryon, North Carolina junior then hit back-to-back shots from distance after the third-quarter media timeout, as BC's advantage ballooned to as many as 18 points in the period. Three Tornados had reached double figures before the end of the third period - Hester, Petty-Wilkins, and Shepard - as BC took a 60-43 lead into the fourth quarter.
After a made free throw by Makenna Parkins and a jumper from Kennedie Noble gave BC a game-best 20-point lead, the Tornados went through a near five-minute scoring drought that allowed Pfeiffer to cut the deficit nearly in half. BC broke the drought at the 4:58 mark, but the hosts chipped the lead down to seven at 65-58 with 2:39 to go. A Boyce layup with two minutes to go put BC back up by nine, and the Tornados were able to ice it from there by hitting seven free throws in the final 1:27 of action to hold on to the 13-point victory, 74-61.
Brevard managed to shoot 49.1% from the field and hit nine 3-pointers in the contest. Pfeiffer held a slight 35-33 edge on the boards, but the Falcons had a 48-10 edge on bench points. The Tornados were able to turn 17 Pfeiffer turnovers into 16 points-off-turnovers.
Brevard will close out the 2024-25 regular season on Saturday, as the Tornados host Rocky Mount, North Carolina to face NC Wesleyan at 4 p.m. The winner of that matchup will secure the two-seed in the upcoming USA South Conference Tournament, beginning next Tuesday, February 25.
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