Hawks Fall To LaGrange In CCS Opener

MONTGOMERY, Ala.- Kicking of 2025 CCS play at home, Huntingdon women's basketball hosted LaGrange College at Roland Arena. Following what largely was a back-and-forth affair, the Hawks would fall to the Panthers by a score of 86-74. Makayla Ford led Huntingdon's offensive attack, providing 16 points off the bench, with Kinstin Davis chipping in 15 of her own.

First Quarter

• With Briana McGruder's layup on the opening possession kicking off the scoring on the afternoon, the two teams traded baskets through the beginning stages of the quarter. Destiny Grider's and-one at the 6:56 mark put the Hawks behind 10-8.
• Kinstin Davis drilled a shot from behind-the-arc shortly after to put Huntingdon ahead 11-10
• Trailing 12-11, Charity Shaw entered the game and scored a quick 4 points to hand Huntingdon back the lead, 15-14 with 4:20 remaining in the quarter
• Shaw put in another basket with 23 seconds remaining to put the Hawks lead at 22-21, but the Panthers cashed in on their final possession to enter the second quarter with a 23-22 advantage

Second Quarter

• Looking to respond after LaGrange opened the quarter with a basket, Makayla Ford sank a pair of free throws before Ashanti Thomas scored three consecutive points to give Huntingdon a 27-25 lead by the 8:26 mark
• Briana McGruder cashed in on an and-one at the 5:52 mark, ending a 5-0 Panther run and bringing the deficit to 32-31
• A 6-0 LaGrange run extended the Panthers' lead to 38-31 with 4 and-a-half minutes remaining in the half. Kennedy-Ryan Jackson's layup on the following possession momentarily stopped the bleeding, but the Hawks still faced a 43-33 deficit entering the two minutes of the half
• Deshauna Foote hit a layup in the second of the half to cut the LaGrange lead to 48-41 at halftime

Third Quarter

• As the second half got underway, Briana McGruder caught fire, scoring all five of the Hawks points through the first three minutes- cutting the deficit to 52-46 by the 7 minute mark
• The Panthers answered with an 8-0 run through the next three minutes to push their lead to 60-46 by the 4:49 mark
• Not to be outdone, the Hawks responded with an 8-2 run of their own, seeing contributions from Davis, Shaw, and Cassidy Campbell. A LaGrange three-pointer with 29 seconds remaining brought the score to 65-56 entering the final quarter

Fourth Quarter

• The Panthers started the final quarter on a 10-0 run, pushing their advantage to 75-56 by the 7:02 mark
• Led by Makayla Ford, Huntingdon answered with a 7-0 run of their own, bringing the score to 77-63 by the 5:35 mark
• Keeping her hot hand, Ford sparked another Huntingdon run, this time joined by Kinstin Davis and Deshauna Foote, as Huntingdon got within six, 79-73, by the 3 minute mark
• LaGrange outscored Huntingdon 7-1 in the final three minutes to walk away with the 86-74 victory on the road

Key Notes

• Both defenses played aggressively, with Huntingdon forcing 17 turnovers and LaGrange forcing 24
• The Hawks were outrebounded 44-39
• 38 of Huntingdon's points came from the bench

Hawk Top Performers

• #4 Kinstin Davis- 15 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals
• #12 Makayla Ford- 16 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block

The Hawks look to bounce back on January 7th, traveling to take on Agnes Scott. Tip-off is set for 6:00 PM CT.