Joanna Smith scored a game-high 24 points, but the Covenant women's basketball team fell to Huntingdon, 75-58, in USA South action on Saturday evening inside Barnes PE Center.
Covenant drops to 1-5 on the year and 0-2 in USA South play. Huntingdon improves to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in the conference.
Smith scored 19 of her game-high 24 points in the second half, but the host Scots could not keep pace with Huntingdon. Smith went 11-of-16 from the field and added five rebounds. Kaley Hallmark was the only other Scot to reach double-digit scoring as she tallied 10 points to go with seven steals.
Huntingdon went on a 9-0 run in the opening quarter to grab a 15-10 lead and would never look back.
The Hawks led 20-14 at the end of the first quarter and stretched that lead to nine (36-27) at halftime.
The visiting Hawks quickly got the lead into double digits in the third period as a 9-0 run, capped by a Mia Hudson 3-pointer, gave Huntingdon a 45-27 lead with 7:08 left in the quarter. Covenant trailed by 19 entering the fourth and would only get as close as 14 over the final 10 minutes.
Shaonica Thomas led four Huntingdon players in double figures as she posted 20 points and six rebounds. Payton Kiser had 19 points, while T.I. Duncan had 13 and Hudson 11. The Hawks shot 51.6 percent (33-of-64) from the field and were able to get out in transition with 14 fastbreak points.
Morgan Douglass collected a team-high four assists for the Scots and Margo Koby added seven points. Covenant finished the night shooting 42.3 percent (22-of-52) and an 11-of-15 effort from the free throw line.
Covenant travels to face Sewanee on Thursday in non-conference action. Tip-off at Juhan Gymnasium is set for 7 p.m. EST (6 p.m. CST). It will be the second meeting in eight days between the teams as Covenant took a 67-61 win over the Tigers on Wednesday.