MEMPHIS-After trailing by as many as 12 points in the first half, the Christian Brothers University Lady Bucs started the second half with a 17-0 run as they cruised to a 60-49 win over Alabama Huntsville Thursday night at Canale Arena.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
• The Chargers (5-21, 4-17 GSC) led for most of the first half, using a 15-4 run to open a 22-10 lead when Caroline Dodd banked in a jumper with 7:45 remaining in the second quarter.
• The Lady Bucs (13-12, 10-11 GSC) used a 9-2 burst to close within 24-19 on a pair of Samantha Reeves (Somerville, Tenn./Fayette Academy) free throws with 3:38 remaining in the half.
• The Lady Bucs opened the second-half scoring with a Mikaela Blissett (Oran, Mo./Scott County Central HS) triple with 8:29 remaining in the third quarter. The next possession, Madison Luckett (Memphis, Tenn./St. Benedict HS) knotted the game at 32 with a three. By the time Rafaella Angelidou (Thessaloniki, Greece/Aristoteleio Kollegeio) capped the run with a three-pointer of her own, the Lady Bucs led 43-32 with 3:51 remaining in the third quarter. 
• CBU led by as many as 14 in the fourth quarter and never allowed UAH closer than seven points again.

KEY STATS:
• Courtney Banks (Memphis, Tenn./White Station HS) matched her career-high with 22 points to go with four assists. She shot 9-of-13 from the field, including 2-of-4 from three-point range.
• Samantha Reeves (Somerville, Tenn./Fayette Academy) scored 14 points with nine rebounds, two blocks and two steals, and she tied her career-high with six assists.
• Luckett scored 12 points with five rebounds and two steals.
• The Lady Bucs shot 40.7 percent (24-of-59) from the field, including 33.3 percent (6-of-18) from three-point range. UAH finished 37.7 percent (20-of-53) overall, including 15.0 percent (3-of-20) from beyond the arc.
• CBU out-rebounded the Chargers 36-32, including a 10-9 edge in offensive boards. The Lady Bucs committed 14 turnovers to UAH's nine.

HEAD COACH SARAH CONDRA'S THOUGHTS:
"That was a huge win. We knew that Huntsville would play well early. If we could weather a couple of storms. You know basketball is a game of runs, and if we could weather some of that adversity we would be ok."

"I thought the first half we weren't in great position defensively, which is why they got so deep in the paint. The paint points were 24-12 in the first half, and that shouldn't be. I challenged them at halftime to get in the right position defensively. We were a little too flat, and in the second half I thought we were really good on the defensive end. And that started just being where we needed to be."

On the loss of Rachel Lee to injury:
"One thing that we talked about when we came home from Delta. You try to take a four-game losing streak and try to take something positive out of it. So that's what I asked the kids, how can we see this as an opportunity. One of the things we talked about, Maddie brought it up, was that this gives an opportunity for people to step up and show what they've got. Kenzie stepped it up defensively. Her offensive rebounds in the second half were just huge for us, especially late. You don't replace a player like Rachel, but we've got some kids that are quite capable of stepping up and filling that role for us."

"Sam just had a rough night. I thought she had some good looks that just didn't bounce like they normally do. Courtney was zoned in from the beginning and aggressive. She knew she had to be from the beginning for us to have a chance, but I thought Maddie really had a great game and stepped it up for us. When she got hot in that third quarter, that really got us going. I thought Maddie had one of her best games. Not only offensively, but defensively. Because she had a tough matchup and I thought she did an outstanding job defensively."

GSC TOURNAMENT PICTURE:
West Florida clinched the top seed at 17-4 with a win Thursday night. Valdosta State is second at 15-6, followed by third-place Lee at 14-7 and fourth-place West Georgia at 13-8. VSU, Lee and UWG have all clinched home games in Tuesday night's quarterfinals. Fifth-place North Alabama (12-9) and sixth-place Union (11-10) have clinched tournament berths. CBU and Delta State are tied for seventh at 10-11, with Mississippi College in ninth at 9-12. 

WHAT'S NEXT:
CBU will celebrate Senior Day Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. as they host North Alabama. CBU would clinch a berth in next week's GSC Tournament with a win Saturday or with a West Alabama win over Mississippi College.