By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
 
HATTIESBURG – While it may have been a little too early to push the panic button, there was no question that the William Carey University women needed a win in their first action of 2024.
 
And a win is just what the Crusaders got, and in dominant fashion, cruising past Brewton-Parker College 67-32 Thursday night in a key Southern States Athletic Conference contest at Clinton Gymnasium.
 
Carey improved to 8-3 overall and 2-3 in SSAC in handing the Barons (12-3 overall) their first conference defeat after four wins to open league play. It was the first game in nearly three weeks for WCU
 
"This was very big for us," said Carey head coach Tracy English. "They were the No. 1 team in our league, actually tied at the top, and we knew we needed to take care of business.
 
"We knew we were rusty, and we also knew we were a whole lot deeper than they are, so the rust doesn't hurt us as badly as it does for somebody else."
 
The Crusaders won it by executing their game plan to perfection on both ends of the floor, and by letting BPC shoot itself out of the game in the first half.
 
The Barons, usually a prolific shooting team from 3-point range, missed their first 19 shots from beyond the arc, and were just 1 of 34 from the floor in the first half, which ended with WCU ahead 25-8.
 
"That's a good basketball team," English said of Brewton-Parker. "All year long, they get down like that, because they shoot it a lot. But then they have quarters where they beat you 32-8, and they'll be back in the game.
 
"So, we had a defensive philosophy that we were using, that as long as we were on the same page with everybody, we knew we were going to be all right, because we weren't going to let them have the shots they wanted to take."
 
By contrast, WCU got what it wanted in low post, outscoring Brewton-Parker 20-4 in the paint through the first three quarters.
 
"We never let our heads down; we knew we had to be the better team," said sophomore Madelyn Ladner, who finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists. "We did what we had to do to score some points.
 
"Our coach did a good job of preparing us. We went over a lot of what they do to get ready for this team, so we knew what was coming from them. We knew we had to be up in the passing lanes and block out on the boards."
 
Carey dictated how things would go right from the outset. Junior forward Kolton Blakeney scored the Crusaders' first four points on point-blank jump shot, sandwiched around three missed treys by the Barons.
 
Junior Angel McRae hit a jump shot in the lane for the Barons to narrow the margin to 4-2, but that was a close as it would be the rest of the night.
 
WCU reeled off an 8-0 run to take command, surrendered a pair of foul shots, then outscored the Barons 23-4 the rest of the first half.
 
"I give my kids a ton of credit," said English. "We had a good week of practice, we prepared for this team, and they took what we did (in practice) out on the floor tonight, and it was one of the best executions of the defensive plan all season."
 
While Brewton-Parker managed to get its game going in the second half, Carey was even better. The Crusaders converted 12 of 21 shots (57.1 percent) in the third quarter, including 3-balls from junior Rose Warren and senior Lauren Rowley.
 
"All week in practice we worked on switching on defense, because we knew they had a lot of 3-point shooters and one person who liked to drive a lot," said Rowley, who finished with 9 points and 6 rebounds.
 
"So, we knew to switch everything to keep them off-balance, and I got some help on the point guard. I think we executed that really well tonight."
 
The Crusaders led by as many as 41 points in the fourth quarter, getting major contributions from their bench, including a game-high 12 points from 6-2 freshman Daydria Cuevas. Freshman Leah Sutton added 10 points and 4 rebounds off the bench for Carey.
 
"We got some good help in the post with Daydria," said English. "What we know about our basketball team is we have one of the better shooters in the league in Lauren Rowley, and nobody in our league has the kind of 1-2 combination that we have on the inside.
 
"Everybody is going to have problems with our two starting post players (Blakeney and freshman Shaneal Corpuz). So we know what we've got to do to be successful."
 
As part of their attacking strategy in the low post, the Crusaders dominated on the glass, outrebounding the Barons 56-36, including 42 defensive boards.
 
After dropping three of their first four conference games, it was up to Rowley, the team's only senior, to get the Crusaders in a proper mindset for the new year.
 
"It was very important for me to step up and be a leader," said Rowley. "Coach English has been working on me to lead the team in other ways besides scoring. I think attitude, effort and encouragement is a big part of that.
 
"Coming into the new year, we definitely wanted to start off with a win in the conference, because our record didn't show how good we actually are. We have a lot of conference games coming up, and we have a lot of confidence now."
 
Senior Keona Mincey had 8 points to lead Brewton-Parker, and McRae had 13 rebounds for the Barons.
 
Carey will look to keep its positive momentum going on Saturday, when the Crusaders host Middle Georgia State with a noon tipoff.