Conway girls step to line to beat CAC

CONWAY -- Myia Yelder was involved in a rather quiet fourth quarter Saturday afternoon until she was forced to the free-throw line. Yelder connected on 6 of 6 free throws in the final 1:16 and finished with 20 points to help the Conway Lady 'Cats hold off Central Arkansas Christian 65-53 in the championship game of the Dandra Thomas Classic at Buzz Bolding Arena. CAC (9-1) had whittled an 18-point fourth-quarter deficit down to 55-51 with 2:02 to play, but Conway (8-0) sealed the victory by hitting 10 consecutive free throws. "I like to think I'm a good free-throw shooter," said Yelder, a 5-8 junior who missed her first free-throw attempt but connected on her next 13. "I take them seriously. We shoot tons and tons of shots every day, so I'm pretty confident when I go to the line." Conway survived a 31-point effort from Christyn Williams. The UConn signee was 12 of 19 from the floor and 7 of 12 from the free-throw line. She grabbed 9 rebounds, blocked 3 shots and handed out 2 assists. She scored 11 of her points in the final 6:10. The Lady Mustangs were 19 of 42 from the floor and outrebounded Conway 36-29, but Conway came up with 17 steals to negate CAC's advantage on the boards. CAC Coach Steve Quattlebaum admitted it was not the Lady Mustangs' best effort. "We're still not in great shape," Quattlebaum said. "We've had some injuries and we've had some girls sick through the first part of the season. Playing three games in three days was kind of hard on us." Conway appeared to be in control after 6-0 senior center Cardrina Nolen opened the fourth quarter with a layup that gave the Lady Cats a 53-35 advantage -- Conway's largest lead of the contest -- but CAC scored the next 11 points. "They are a state-championship caliber team for sure," Conway Coach Ashley Nance said of CAC. "They were undefeated coming into this game and had played some tough teams. For us, this was a great win." Yelder, who did not play for most of the fourth quarter because of foul trouble, re-entered in time to help the Lady 'Cats remain on top. After Williams' layup with 2:02 left pulled the Lady Mustangs to within 55-51, Conway sealed the game from the line. Junior Reagan Roetzel hit two free throws for her only two points of the game at the 1:50 mark to push Conway's lead to 57-51. Yelder was responsible for Conway's next six points, all of which came from the line. "This was a huge win for us," said Yelder, who also had 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists. "We were both undefeated and they have the nation's No. 1 player. I think a lot of their opponents are intimidated by her, but we felt if we could play together we could overcome that." "I told Myia when the season started, 'Myia, at about midway through this season everybody's going to know who you are,' " Nance said. "I think she's proven herself. She was huge for us at the end." Nolen scored 11 of her 15 points in the second half. She also grabbed seven rebounds and made five steals. Junior Asiyha Smith scored 12 points. Conway was 19 of 51 from the floor. Freshman Bethany Dillard added 12 points for CAC while senior Jenna Davis collected eight rebounds. "I was proud of my girls," Quattlebaum said. "We made a nice little run at the end."

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CONWAY GIRLS STEP TO LINE TO BEAT CAC

TIM COOPER

Arkansas Online | 12/11/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Conway Athletics