KINGSPORT, Tenn. – An all-around team effort on both ends of the floor lifted the Bluefield College women's basketball team to a 59-36 win over No. 11 seed Montreat College Wednesday afternoon in the opening round of the 2015 Appalachian Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament at the MeadowView Conference Resort and Convention Center.
 
Bluefield—which leveled its season record at 15-15—advances to face No. 3 seed Union, Thursday evening at 5:15 p.m. The teams split on the regular season, with each team taking a win on their opponents' home court.
 
Maryah Mazyck finished the afternoon with a game-high 17 points. Both Shelby Key (11 points, 10 rebounds) and Destiny Tolliver (10 points, 15 rebounds) tallied double doubles. It's the second time this season that Key and Tolliver have tallied double-doubles in the same game. Sharonda Tate chipped in 10 points off the bench and also pulled down eight rebounds.
 
Pearl Henriquez was Montreat's only double-digit scorer, tallying 11 for the game.
 
Neither team could find momentum early in the contest, but junior guard Key helped ignite Bluefield during a late in the first half. Holding a 9-6 advantage, Bluefield reeled off 14 unanswered points. Key drilled back-to-back triples in the span, after Tolliver scored two-straight hoops underneath. Mazyck added a jumper and Tate added two at the free throw line to help BC take control of the game.
 
Bluefield's defense aided the run, as Montreat committed six turnovers and went scoreless for a span of 8:56. A free throw ended the Cavaliers scoreless stretch, but the team's cold streak from the floor would continue. Montreat's next five points came at the charity stripe, while Pearl Henriquez' lay-in with just two seconds left in the half ended the field goal drought, which lasted 12:54.
 
BC helped force 12 first-half turnovers for Montreat, while the Cavaliers were just 4-for-24 (16.7%) from the floor during the opening 20 minutes of play. Bluefield had nine first-half field goals to take a 29-14 lead into halftime.
 
Head Coach Corey Mullins' squad continued its attack early in the second half, coming out of the locker room with a 12-4 run. The quick second-half start extended the lead to Bluefield's largest of the game, 43-18.
 
Montreat began to find some offense late in the second half, but only closed the gap to 17 points, and BC took the 59-36 final.
 
The 36 points is a season low for a BC opponent, and is the fewest number of points allowed by the BC women since a 71-31 win over Allen (S.C.), Nov. 29, 2012.
Bluefield finished 22-for-62 (35.5%) from the field, compared to 13-for-50 (26%) for the Cavaliers.
 
Bluefield held a sizeable 48-30 edge on the glass, including 14 on the offensive end.
 
Tate's 10 points off the bench helped BC to a 19-6 advantage in bench points.
 
Montreat's 19 turnovers on the afternoon led to 15 points for Bluefield.