WASHINGTON - At times Tuesday night in the Field House the Gallaudet University women's basketball win streak looked to be in trouble against Lancaster Bible College in a United East Conference contest. The Bison trailed for three-fourths of the game and had to rally from nine points down to beat the Chargers, 65-56, before a Bison crowd of 208.

Gallaudet (11-7, 9-2 UE) dug deep and relied on veteran leadership to turn the tables against Lancaster Bible (9-11, 6-5 UE) in the second half. The Bison came through with clutch 3-pointers and several heads up plays to get past the Chargers and extend the win streak to six.

The Bison trailed 32-26 at the half after being down nine points, 26-17, at the 5:39 mark in the second quarter.

In the second half, Gallaudet trimmed the LBC lead down to two points, 34-32, at the 5:33 mark. Several minutes later, the Bison tied the game on a big 3-pointer from freshman guard Crystal Salit (Boyds, Md.) off a nice assist from freshman forward Hannah Puent (Indianapolis, Ind.).

GU took its second lead of the game, 41-39, when sophomore forward Cassidy Perry (Frederick, Md.) made a layup at the 1:34 mark in the third quarter. Gallaudet's previous lead came seconds after the opening tipoff and the Bison scored a quick layup to lead 2-0. The Chargers would hit a 3-pointer and lead for over 27 minutes.

Gallaudet took a 44-39 lead into the fourth quarter. The Chargers scored the first six points of the quarter to regain the lead, 45-44. Gallaudet trailed by three points, 49-46, before senior guard Emelia Beldon (Frederick, Md.) made a heads up play on an inbounds under the Bison basket. Beldon threw the ball off the back of a Chargers defender, gathered up the loose ball, and made the layup and got fouled in the process with 7:07 left on the game clock. Beldon coverted the 3-point play with a made foul shot to knot the game at 49. 

The two teams continued to trade the lead down the stretch. GU trailed by three points, 54-51, but tied the game at the 3:46 mark on a huge 3-pointer from sophomore guard Sunita Schmidjorg (Austin, Texas) off a pass from Beldon. 

A minute later, Gallaudet converted another 3-point play after Salit made a layup and got fouled in the process. Salit drained the foul shot to give GU a 57-56 lead with 2:20 left in regulation.

The buff and blue got some breathing room when sophomore Malia Zornoza (Riverside, Calif.) made a 3-point shot with just over a minute left to play to put the Bison up four points, 60-56. Gallaudet made five free throws from there while the Chargers missed several shots and turned the ball over twice to end the game.

Perry finished with a game-high 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds and made a game-high four blocks in the win. Puent came off the bench to score 10 points while three other Bison finished with eight points each. Beldon scored eight points, and set game-high marks with six assists and five steals and grabbed three rebounds. Zornoza finished with eight points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals while Salit tallied eight points and three rebounds. Schmidjorg tallied seven points, nine rebounds, four assists and one steal. 

Lancaster Bible was paced by guard Alaysha Iwais' 13-point game while forward Jade Eshelman controlled the glass with a game-high 20 rebounds (15 on the defensive end).

BISON TRACKS

• Gallaudet scored 36 points in the paint
• The Bison scored 18 points off 20 Charger turnovers
• GU received 18 points from its bench
• GU shot 42.4 percent from the field
• LBC held a 40-33 edge in rebounds
• Gallaudet swept the season series with LBC

UP NEXT
Gallaudet hits the road for the next two weeks after a four-game homestand. The Bison will travel to New York this weekend for two United East Conference games. GU will first visit Wells College (1-17, 1-9 UE) on Friday, Feb. 4, at 7 p.m.