BREVARD, N.C. - The Brevard College women's basketball team (20-5) earned a spot in the USA South Conference Tournament Championship game for the first time in program history, while also hitting the 20-win mark for the first time in 20 years with a 70-60 triumph over NC Wesleyan (16-9) on Thursday evening at the Boshamer Gymnasium.
 
Brevard had four players reach double figures in scoring, while senior point guard Lexi Shepard broke her own NCAA-era single-game program record with 11 assists. BC claimed its 20^th victory of the 2024-25 campaign, marking the first time the program has reached the 20-win mark since the NAIA era in 2004-05 (25 wins).
 
Senior tandem of Josie Hester and Makenna Parkins each recorded 18-point, 10-rebound double-doubles, the 15^th career double-double for Parkins and the first double-doube at BC for Hester. Jada Petty-Wilkins added 16 points with three 3-pointers, dished out three assists, and logged a 40-minute game for the first time in her career. Naliyah Boyce totaled up 13 points and eight rebounds, as the quartet of Tornados combined for 65 of BC's 70 points in the contest. Hester was a catalyst on defense for Brevard with four steals and a block, while Shepard recorded a pair of blocked shots herself.
 
Shepard, a Summerville, South Carolina senior guard, dished out double-digit assists for the second time  this season – with both totals coming against the Battling Bishops. The fourth-year Tornado starter distributed 10 dimes out in an early-season matchup with NCW on December 3, 2024 – originally setting the program mark before her 11-assist output on Thursday night. Shepard already holds the career NCAA-era record for assists at 334.
 
Brevard and NC Wesleyan battled through the first five minutes, with the Tornados holding a slim 9-3 lead off a Petty-Wilkins 3-pointer at the 6:16 mark in the first quarter. BC was able to push its lead to a 10-point margin, 19-9, before a NCW buzzer-beater trimmed the mark to seven points, 19-12, at the end of one.
 
The visitors took advantage of a cold-shooting second period by Brevard, utilizing a 15-3 stretch through the first six-plus minutes of second-quarter play to hold a five-point lead, 27-22, with 3:45 to go in the stanza. Brevard's first field goal of the period came on a Boyce turn-around jumper, and Hester hit an and-one layup to tie things at 27 apiece. The Battling Bishops scored the next six points to retake the lead, but a Hester jumper followed by a Parkins 3-pointer trimmed the deficit to one point, 33-32, at the end of the first half.
 
Petty-Wilkins led all scorers with 11 at the break, while Parkins and Boyce grabbed five boards apiece. Shepard distributed five assists and grabbed four caroms alongside Hester's four.
 
Brevard opened up the third quarter by outscoring NCW 11-3 with some big-time buckets that allowed the Tornados to open a seven-point lead up, 43-36, at the 4:53 mark. Sparked by five-consecutive points from Petty-Wilkins, BC pushed ahead further, taking a 52-38 edge with 2:52 left. BC would end up with a 13-point lead heading to the fourth period, 54-41, as the Tornados utilized a 22-8 third-quarter margin to flip the script. Brevard shot 7-of-13 from the field, made three 3-pointers, and nailed five free throws in the third stanza.
 
The Tornados never allowed NC Wesleyan to get closer than eight points in the fourth period, as the Tornados hit crucial buckets and converted at the charity stripe to finish off the Battling Bishops, 70-60, and advance to the program's first USA South title game.
 
Brevard found victory despite the Battling Bishops winning the turnover battle by 10 (24-14), with NCW creating 14 points off BC miscues. Brevard was able to pull away by outshooting NC Wesleyan 42% to 32% from the field and commanding the glass 47-33, as BC earned a three-game season sweep over the Battling Bishops.
 
The visitors were paced offensively by three double-digit scorers: Corynthian Williams (19 points), Anaya Hall (12 points), and Nadia Simmons (11 points). Dorinda Jordan snatched a team-best eight rebounds, while Simmons added five assists, three blocks, and three steals.
 
The Tornados will take on top-seeded Southern Virginia in Buena Vista, Virginia on Saturday at 4 p.m., with the winner receiving an automatic bid into the 2025 NCAA DIII Championship Tournament.
 
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