Tigers Open Conference Play With Win

Gainesville, Ga - Freshman Tatiana Khudiakova (Moscow, Russia) scored a season high 18 points today to help the Brenau Golden Tigers (9-3, 1-0) pick up their opening conference win over the Brewton Parker Barons (4-9, 0-1) by a score of 79-54. Sophomore Nikki Reed (Atlanta) had her second straight double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds and Sophomore Olivia Williams (Hiram) came off the bench for her best performance of the year with 10 points and eight rebounds.

Sophomore Gabby Harvey turned in another strong game with nine points, eight rebounds, five assists and five steals in a game that all 15 Tiger players saw action. Sophomore Sarah Ward scored a season-high eight points on 3-3 shooting from the field. Brenau had a season best 26 assists with Brittney Wiley, Harvey and Reed collecting five apiece. Courtney Sands led the way for the Barons with 12 points.

The Tigers raced out to a 23-2 lead before the Barons knew what hit them and Brenau carried a 49-20 advantage into the locker room at halftime. The Tigers shot a sizzling .714 from the field in the first half and ended the game at .561 in their best shooting game of the season. They also held the Barons to .282 from the field. Brenau also dominated the boards with a 55-34 margin.

"That first half was a thing of beauty," said Coach Gary Bays. "When we play team defense and move the ball on offense like that, we are going to be tough to beat. We are still a work in progress because we are still learning how to play with each other, but this was a performance to build on."

Brenau will hit the road again next Thursday to take on NCAA II Young Harris before returning to conference play next Saturday at #15 Shorter.