Welch College 66
Hiwassee College 62
January 17, 2014. The Welch College fans were treated to fun-filled evening as the Lady Flames gave them a thrilling, come-from-behind, win over the visiting Lady Tigers of Hiwassee College, 66-62, for their third win in four games.
Hiwassee controlled the tempo in the first half, applying full-court pressure to the Lady Flames as often as possible. In the process, Welch went to the line 25 times, scoring 17 or their 37 first-half points. But, it was the Lady Tiger pressure that gave them a four point lead going into the locker room.
Early in the second half, Hiwassee went on a 10-2 run to take a 51-39 lead. But, the Flames fought back with a run of their own, scoring 13 straight points to take a 52-51 lead at the 9:22 mark. It was a back and forth game from there as neither team could mount any kind of a run. In the end, it was Ashton Johnson knocking down two big free throws to seal the deal with 5.7 seconds left in the contest.
“It was a very physical game,” said Lady Flames” coach Larry Bryan. “Because of their pressure there was a lot of contact. Because of the pressure, made some turnovers, but overall, I thought we handled their press pretty well. It was a good win for us.”
Johnson, once again, had a huge game for Welch, scoring 27 points and grabbing eight rebounds while running the Flames’ offense. Leslie Nichols also had a good night, scoring 13 points and pulling down a game-high 17 rebounds. Amy Pickett hit several key baseline jumpers to finish with 10.