By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
 
HATTIESBURG – William Carey University has something special brewing in women's basketball this season.
 
The Crusaders took command midway through the first half and never looked back, dominating Stillman College 73-53 in a Southern States Athletic Conference contest Saturday afternoon at Clinton Gym.
 
Carey improved to 15-3 overall with its seventh consecutive victory, and firmly in third place in the SSAC standings at 9-3. Stillman dropped to 12-9 and 7-7.
 
"There's a lot of chemistry with this group," said longtime Carey coach Tracy English. "We've got a lot of moving pieces that are coming together.
 
"I was really proud of my kids today. We had a defensive game plan on how to guard them, because we were really outmatched in the post with their physicality and their skill level."
 
Although the Crusaders only have one senior on their roster, English has assembled a deep, finely-meshed team that is improving as the season goes along.
 
Senior Lauren Rowley has provided the leadership in the locker room and on the floor, leading William Carey Saturday with 23 points.
 
"We have a lot of scoring options this year," said Rowley. "Everybody wants to win and wants to do what it takes to win. That makes it real easy for us when you want to win more than the other team."
 
It was Rowley who got WCU going in the early going after the two teams traded the lead six times in the first quarter. Tiger junior Raena Suggs swished 3-point shots on three consecutive possessions as the Tigers built a 15-12 lead.
 
Rowley converted a 3-ball of her own to put Carey ahead 10-9, but Suggs drove the lane for layup and drew a foul. However, she missed the and-one, and did not score again the rest of the game.
 
Despite that, Suggs' 13 points was still tops for Stillman.
 
"We were ready for her," said English. "She and (junior Jamariah Turner) are their shooters, and they've really been lighting it up for about the last month.
 
"We were on them, but we weren't up in them. The key was if you end up guarding one of them, make them put the ball on the floor. Don't just stand there and guard them. Get on them, get a hand in their face and make them put the ball on the floor."
 
Down by three points after another Tiger 3-pointer, the Crusaders embarked on a decisive 9-0 run late in the first period, as freshman Shaneal Corpuz sank an open jumper from the foul line, then Rowley hit a soft eight-footer from the right side to put the Crusaders ahead for good.
 
"We outrebounded them 31 to nine in the first half, and a lot of those came in the second quarter, and it helped us get going offensively," said Rowley.
 
"We go into the post a lot and we do a good job of scoring one-on-one against everybody. So we have a lot of opportunities to kick it out for open looks, and they had to get out of the zone for that reason."
 
While Carey was building its lead, the Tigers went one-and-done on five straight possessions, thanks to a dominant effort on the defensive glass. The Crusaders finished with 47 rebounds in all, 33 on the defensive end, to just 29 rebounds total for Stillman.
 
"We've got to want it more than the other team," said freshman Shaneal Corpuz, who finished with 11 points and 9 rebound, 8 on defense. "You have to go for the ball every time. All of us wanted it more than they did, it seemed like. We just went for the ball every time."
 
Although the Crusaders didn't shoot particularly well in the second quarter (6 of 19), their dribble penetration allowed them to get to the foul line, where they converted 10 of 12 in the period and 18 of 24 for the game.
 
"The strategy is to kick it in, kick it back out and if I get one-on-one, I'm going to score," said Corpuz. "It's pretty simple, pretty easy."
 
English said his team took on the challenge from the Tigers, whose game is built around physical play.
 
"These last couple of games have been really hard, with the two types of physical teams that we've played," said English. "We really needed to play in those kinds of games, because we know that's we're going to see down the stretch and at the conference tournament
 
Carey turned up the heat on defense in the second quarter, holding Stillman to 4 of 14 shooting from the field, including 0 for 3 from 3-point range.
 
The Crusaders led 39-25 at halftime, then put the pedal to the metal in the third quarter, outscoring the Tigers 23-15 in the period, with the help of sizzling shooting from the floor.
 
Carey was 10 of 14 (71.4 percent) from the field in the third quarter, and led by as many as 24 points late in the period.
 
WCU played 11 players, and most of the bench players had key contributions, especially freshmen Leah Sutton and Jessica Garriga, who combined for 12 points off the bench..
 
"The key is the kids coming off the bench do a great job for us," said English. "Jenna had a great day, Leah had a great day, and we get that every time with them. For me, as a coach, that's a comfort level I have that some coaches don't have, because I believe in those kids."
 
Junior Rose Warren added 10 points for Carey, which hits the road for a long road trip next.