Aaron Frey, PR Specialist, 309.341.5301 afrey@sandburg.edu
GALESBURG — The Carl Sandburg College women’s basketball team moved into a tie atop the Arrowhead Conference after holding off a furious Black Hawk rally for an 80-74 victory Thursday night at John M. Lewis Gymnasium. The Chargers (10-12, 3-1) won their third straight game to pull into a tie with the Braves (13-8, 3-1) midway through the Arrowhead schedule. Sandburg took a 39-32 lead into halftime and extended it to 65-50 after the third quarter on a corner 3-pointer from Hailey Lovetinsky (Overland Park, Kan./Spring Hill) off a feed from Destiny Allen (Springfield, Ill./Lanphier). The Chargers opened up their largest lead of the night at 70-52 early in the fourth on a trey from Sophie Whitford (Macomb, Ill./Macomb). Black Hawk then rattled off 16 straight points in less than 2½ minutes to pull within 70-68 with 5:18 to go. Sophomore Cora Neal (Monmouth, Ill./Monmouth-Roseville) hit a midrange jumper with 2:40 left, and her offensive rebound led to a Kennedy Jackson (Peoria, Ill./Limestone) layup at 2:05 for a 77-70 Sandburg lead. The Braves got within three in the final minute before Lovetinsky split a pair of foul shots and Jackson hit two free throws for the final score. Jackson paced the Chargers in both scoring and rebounding, putting up 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting and grabbing nine boards. Four of her rebounds came on the offensive glass, and she went 4 for 4 from the line. Neal had 15 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals. Lovetinsky finished with 14 points, four rebounds and tied for the team lead with four assists. Whitford went 4 of 7 from 3-point range to account for her 12 points on the night. UP NEXT FOR SANDBURG: 1 p.m. Feb. 1 vs. Kankakee
