Tigerville, S.C.—The North Greenville women’s basketball team weathered an actual tornado warning, and a furious comeback attempt by King University tonight, en route to an 84-67 win over the Tornado basketball team. The win over King keeps NGU’s slim playoff hopes alive.

Three players in double figures, including Alisha Hope, who led all scorers with 23 points, carried the Crusaders. Hope paired her 23 points with four steals, also a game high. Timisty Nelson also checked in, in double figures with 19 points while Ashleigh Edwards cashed in a 13 point 8 assists performance. Edwards was 3-5 from beyond the arch.

No team grabbed a lead larger than 2 points for the first 10 minutes of the first half. North Greenville would break that trend with 9:47 left in the opening period when a Ciara Anderson layup gave the Crusaders a four-point lead. The Anderson layup would spark a 14-2 NGU rally, which spanned five minutes of the half. The lead would swell to 19 for NGU as the two teams headed into intermission.

The points accumulated for NGU at the start of the second half, as the Crusaders took a 26-point advantage with 17:31 left in the game. The Tornado kept clawing however, cutting the lead to an uncomfortable 10 with 6:34. The Tornado outscored NGU 32-10, cutting the lead to 66-56. Alisha Hope squashed the momentum however hitting a three with 6:11 left to reclaim a 13-point lead for North Greenville.

The Crusaders would push the lead to 20 again with 3:07 left as they cruised to their third conference win of the season. North Greenville’s defense was the story of the day, forcing 19 King turnovers, leading to 31 points. The Tornado forced 20 NGU turnovers, but were only able to muster 8 points. Both teams were solid in the paint, scoring 36 points down low, while King’s bench outscored North Greenville’s 30-19.

Brooke Johnson, who had 15 points, led the Tornado. She was King’s only double figure scorer. Allison Bosse, and Chelsea Bowling were next in line with 9 points apiece.

The Crusaders improved their overall record to 5-11 on the season, and 3-9 in Conference Carolinas play, while King fell to 9-8 overall and 5-8 in conference. NGU will take a two-day rest, before welcoming the Mount Olive Trojans on Saturday at 2pm.