HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The William Carey Women's Basketball Team wrapped up the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 59-35 win over Talladega College Saturday afternoon at Clinton Gym.
 
"We really got off to a fast start with our defense turning into offense," said Head Coach Tracy English. "We were able to get out to a nice lead and cruise the rest of the game."
 
After a slow start by both teams, the Lady Crusaders offense found their rhythm building a 15-2 advantage midway through the first quarter. After an opening basket by Shaneal Corpuz almost two minutes passed before a pair of free throws by Kolton Blakeney broke the scoring drought.
 
Rose Warren drained a three pointer to make it 7-0 WCU. The Tornadoes broke the run with a jumper with six minutes to play but Carey responded with eight straight points capped by a Jenna Garriga three pointer.
 
However, the WCU offense went cold going almost four minutes without a basket, but the defense was there to hold Talladega off, limiting the Tornadoes to just four points. The final minute of the quarter, saw Madelyn Ladner score five straight points to give Carey a 20-6 lead.
 
It was much of the same in the second quarter, as the Lady Crusaders slowly built a 29-8 lead after four minutes of play. Over the next six minutes, Talladega continued to struggle offensively but so did Carey as there was only a combined thirteen points scored with the Lady Crusaders taking a 36-14 lead into the break.
 
WCU quickly pulled away to a 26-point advantage on a 6-2 run with Corpuz scoring all six points. It was all Carey from there as they stretched their to as many as 28 points on their way to victory. For the game the Lady Crusaders out rebounded the Tornadoes 45-33 which led to a 12-point differential in second chance points. One of the biggest differences in the game was WCU winning the turnover battle 15-23 which led to 23 points compared to ten for Talladega.
 
Shaneal Corpuz led the offense with 16 points with Kolton Blakeney finishing with ten points.
 
Carey is back in action Thursday, February 20, as they take on Mobile (Ala.) in SSAC action. Play is set to begin at 5:30 pm at Clinton Gym.