LEBANON, Tenn. – Tamara Gonzalez hit five 3-pointers and scored 17 points and Simone Ryan added 14 points, as Cumberland built a huge lead and then hung on for a 65-57 victory over Mid-Continent Saturday in women’s basketball action at the Dallas Floyd Recreation Center.
Cumberland (8-17, 4-12 TranSouth) led by 18 at the half and built the lead to as many as 32 points after a Gonzalez 3-pointer with 11:54 remaining in the contest. But the Cougars (3-25, 1-15) used a 24-3 run over the next nine minutes to cut the deficit to single digits before the Bulldogs closed out the victory.
Gonzalez hit five 3-pointers, more than she had registered in the last nine games combined, to score her 17 points, her most since netting 28 points against Tennessee Wesleyan on December 28 of this season.
Cumberland led 37-19 at halftime and opened the second half with a 23-9 stretch, highlighted by seven points from Stephanie Martin and six apiece by Ryan and Gonzalez, who capped the run with another 3-pointer for the Bulldogs biggest lead of the game at 60-28.
But then the Cougars began their comeback, starting with a bucket from Lindsay Davis. Seven different players scored during the run, including a pair of 3-pointers from Magen Hancock and six points by Katelyn Perry. A layup by Lindsey Davis with 1:55 to play cut the CU lead to 63-54, but Martin hit a jumper the next time down the floor to seal the victory for the home team.
Martin scored 11 points for the Bulldogs, while Gonzalez and Ryan both grabbed seven rebounds. Tiffany Payton led the Cougars with 12 points and Kandi Knupp added 11 for MCU.
Cumberland hit five 3-pointers in the first half, including three from Gonzalez, who scored 11 points, and the Bulldogs took a 37-19 advantage at intermission.
CU scored 25 of the first 31 points of the contest, taking a 19-point lead with 10:28 left in the period after a Gonzalez trifecta. Ashley Whitmore netted seven points and Gonzalez hit a pair of 3-pointers during the run.
The Cougars then scored seven straight points, five from Knupp. But MCU never got closer than 12 points the rest of the half, and Cumberland ended the half on a 10-4 spurt, with Brittany Cash and Gonzalez hitting 3-pointers and Gonzalez and Simone Ryan adding buckets.
Even with Saturday’s victory, Cumberland lost a tiebreaker with Blue Mountain College, which won at Lyon College on Saturday. The Bulldogs will now face Mid-Continent for the third time in three a week on Monday at home at 7 p.m. in a play-in game for the TranSouth Championships.
