ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Peyton Banks (Wadsworth, Ohio) added 16 points to her career total to sit 10th all-time in career scoring as the Saints pulled away from Concordia (Mich.) in a 70-60 conference win on Thursday night.
THE BASICS
Final Score: Siena Heights 70, Concordia (Mich.) 60
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan (Cardinal Fieldhouse)
Records: Siena Heights (8-3, 5-2 WHAC), Concordia (Mich.) (9-4, 3-1 WHAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Cardinals jumped out to an early 3-0 lead early. The Saints took their first lead with a jumper by Banks that gave SHU a 5-4 lead at the 6:00 mark. Allye Minor (Bryan, Ohio) made a three-point jumper to extend Siena's lead to 15-10 with just over 1:30 left in the opening quarter. A three-pointer by Concordia (Mich.) put the score at 15-13 at the end of the quarter.
The score was tied at the beginning of the second quarter at 15 and 17 in the opening 2:30 minutes. The Cardinals retook the lead, 19-17, at the 7:11 mark. Siena Heights would cut the lead to one point twice before Sha'kyia Parker (Grand Rapids, Mich.) made a layup to give Siena back the lead, 22-21. Parker responded with a three on the next possession to extend things to 25-21 with 3:37 remaining in the first half. Concordia (Mich.) took the lead again, 28-27, with a jumper at 2:09. E'Anna Won (Wadsworth, Ohio) hit both of her free-throw opportunities in the final seconds to give SHU the 29-28 halftime lead.
Much like the first half, the Cardinals took the lead at the beginning of the third quarter only to have the Saints knot things up at 33. Banks sank a layup to take another lead, 35-33 with 8:01 on the clock in the third stanza. Kelsey Wyman (Blissfield, Mich.) made a trey to increase the lead to 38-33. Back-to-back three-point jumpers gave the Saints the largest lead of the game, 44-35, with 6:27 left in the third. The lead grew to 12 points before back-to-back scores from Concordia (Mich.) cut the deficit to eight points at the end of the period.
Won made a layup that sparked an 8-0 run for the Saints that pushed the advantage of 17 points (67-50) with 56 seconds remaining in regulation. The remainder of the quarter was SHU maintaining their lead until the clock read zeros to give the team their fifth WHAC win of the season.
TOP SAINTS
• Banks finished the game 6-13 shooting from the floor and a perfect 3-3 from the charity stripe. She finished the game with six rebounds, five assists, and one steal.
• Shelby Morrow (Flushing, Mich.) scored 10 points and was one rebound away from a double-double.
• Savanah Gibson recorded 12 points off the bench for Siena Heights. She shot 5-8 and hauled in five rebounds.
• Parker finished with 11 points and three rebounds.
THE OPPOSITION
• Tris'styn Williams led the Cardinals with 12 points. Katie Snow and J'may Simmons each registered 11 points. Simmons led the team with nine rebounds.
• Alize Tripp scored 10 points.
UP NEXT
The Saints return to the comfort of home with a game against Rochester at home. Tip-off time is scheduled for 2:00 p.m., EST.
