Hesston, Kan. — The Central Christian women's basketball team battled back on the road Friday night, using a blistering third quarter to power a 66–56 win over Hesston College at Yost Gym, giving the Tigers at 4-2 their best start through the 1st 6 games to open a season since the 2006-07 team started the season 5-1.
Tigers saw their biggest deficit of 11 down 21-10 late in 1st half, and a quick 10-5 run by Central to end the half, sparked by Chloe Clevenger, who finished the half assisting on a Charmayne Marshall 3, then scored 5 straight, and finished the half with a steal that led to a Cristina Laudan bucket to bring the score to 26–20 at halftime. The Tigers erupted for 25 points in the third quarter, knocking down five threes to flip the game. Central took its first lead on Kylee Jones's free throws with :49 left in the period and never trailed again
Charmayne Marshall led the way with 20 points, drilling six 3-pointers and scoring 15 after the break. Clevenger stuffed the box score with 14 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals (7–9 FT), while Cristina Laudan added a near double-double of 12 points and 9 boards with 3 assists and a block. Jones chipped in 7 points, including a third-quarter triple and a perfect 4–4 at the line.
Central's bench provided timely minutes, highlighted by C'Niyah Williams (4 pts), Shamaya Brown (4 pts), Haiden Smoke-Sheckels (6 reb, 2 pts), and some quality defensive minutes by Kenedi Griffin in her 1st action as a Tiger. The Tigers converted defense into offense with 26 points off turnovers and won second-chance points 7–6, overcoming a 46–42 deficit on the glass.
Defensively, the Tigers clamped down late, limiting Hesston to just 13 points in the fourth quarter and 10–22 at the stripe. Sarah Beltran and Mariah Hall paced the Larks with 14 points each, but Central's perimeter burst and takeaways after halftime proved decisive.
The Tigers (4-2) next will travel to Fort Worth to open SAC play at Texas Wesleyan (4-2) on Thursday, November 20th. Game can be seen on the Urban Edge Network at 6pm.
