FROM STAFF REPORTS

The University of Montevallo women’s basketball team ended its season with a 90-48 loss on the road at Clayton State University in the first round of the Peach Belt Conference tournament March 2.

Clayton State jumped out to a 9-0 lead and never looked back in the opening round of the conference tournament. Clayton State shot better than 50 percent from the floor, while holding Montevallo to 29 percent shooting from the field.

The Falcons also finished with 30 turnovers in the conference tournament loss.

Junior Davia Harris and senior Jessica Collins led the Falcons (10-17) with nine points each.

Collins finished with a team-high five steals.

Resdshirt freshman Alex Strickland and senior Carrie Parrott added eight points each.  Strickland finished 3-of-6 from the floor, including 2-of-2 from beyond the arc. Parrott grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

Junior Shavonne Seymore and senior Tiaren Young chipped in five points each. Junior Tiffany McClure contributed four points in the defeat.

The Falcons never led in the game as the Lakers pulled away early and never looked back. Clayton State opened the game with an 18-4 run that lasted just under eight minutes.

Montevallo was able to score four straight points to cut the lead to 10 points, but Clayton State responded with a 17-2 run to push its first-half lead to 25 points with just 4:41 to play. Montevallo once again answered with five straight points to cut it the deficit to 20 points, but the Lakers were able to push their lead back to 22 points as time expired on the half.

Montevallo was never able to get the deficit under 20 points during the second half. The Lakers pushed their lead to as much as 43 points in the final 20 minutes.

The Falcons closed out their season with their first trip to the Peach Belt Conference tournament. Montevallo will say goodbye to four seniors in Parrott, Collins, Young and Kris Seigenthaler, who helped lead the team through a number of tough situations throughout the year.

A couple of highlights from the year were opening the season 6-0 at home, defeating Columbus State in the final regular season game on the road to clinch a berth to the Peach Belt Conference tournament and picking up a huge 97-27 win over Judson College for interim head coach Brittany Godsey’s first career head coaching victory Dec. 2.