Basketball (W)

2/2/10- Hood Carries Royals

Fullerton, CA- On Tuesday night, the Concordia Eagles had no answers for Hope International’s Champ Hood who dominated in the paint for 24 points on 11-14 shooting to push the Royals to a 60-59 win.

The first basket of the night for the Royals (8-14, 3-9 GSAC) was an indication of things to come the remainder of the night.  Hood, pictured at right, powered her way through the paint and up with a layup as she tied the score at 2-2.

An 8-2 run capped off by a three pointer from Senior Sarah Nylander gave the Royals a six point lead- their largest of the game- with 13:42 to play in the first half.

But from that point through the remainder of the half, the Eagles (10-10, 3-9 GSAC) produced a 13 point swing to take a seven point lead (31-24) into the break.

The lead would have been nine but Hood hit a fade away nine footer with two seconds showing on the clock to give her nine first half points.  She hit 4-6 shots from the field in the opening act.

As good as Hood was in the first half she was even better after the break.  She opened the half with a defensive rebound, then an offensive rebound turned into a put back, followed by yet another layup on the next possession.  She scored the next made basket for the Royals a minute and a half later as well.

After Hood’s third basket of the half, the lead for Concordia would not be any higher than six points the remainder of the night.  In fact after the eight minute mark, the lead would not be any higher than two for either team.

Hood gave the Royals their first lead of the second half on a layup with seven minutes to play.

After the lead changed hands numerous times, Nylander hit her second three pointer of the night to give the Royals a temporary lead.  Nylander finished second on the Royals with eight points.

Nicole Fu, who finished with an Eagle high 16 points, knocked down a jumper with 50 seconds left to give Concordia a 59-58 lead.

Head Coach Dave Ploog took a time out to draw up a play for guess who… that’s right… Hood.  She responded by hitting yet one more layup in the paint with 26 seconds left which turned out to be the game winner.  She finished the second half with a 7-8 shooting performance.

The Royals now turn their attention to their showdown with Westmont in Santa Barbara on Saturday.  Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 pm.

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