BREVARD, N.C. – The Berea College women's basketball shot efficiently from the free-throw line on their way to a 69-62 victory over Brevard College (N.C.) on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, the Mountaineers sit in first place in the West Division of the USA South Conference with a 12-3 overall record and 7-0 in conference play, while the Tornadoes fall to 7-4 overall and 3-1 in conference action.

Sophomore Aaliyah Hampton recorded a game-high 26 points while shooting 13-for-14 from the free-throw line, along with seven rebounds. Fellow sophomore Destiny Combs scored 19 points with seven rebounds while hitting nine free throws. Freshmen Dailyn Spalding knocked down a career-high seven free throws to total 11 points with five rebounds and two assists. Senior Destanie Love surpassed her career-high in rebounds for the second consecutive game, this time grabbing a game-leading 17 boards. As a team, Berea shot 32-for-41 from the charity stripe.

The Mountaineers were down early in the first quarter as the Tornadoes jumped out to an 8-2 lead. Brevard's Ty'She Washington knocked down a pair of three-pointers to ignite the Tornado's advantage. A layup by Combs sparked Berea's response, outscoring Brevard 8-2 to tie the game 10-10 with 5:47 left in the first quarter. Momentum quickly shifted in the other direction, as the Tornadoes had a big scoring burst to end the quarter, outpacing Berea 13-4 to take a 23-14 lead going into the second quarter.

Berea began to chip into the lead immediately to start the second quarter, cutting the deficit to two points with 7:13 left in the half. Combs began the second quarter scoring, as she found a path to the paint for a layup plus the foul. After a defensive stop by the Mountaineers, freshmen Jayden Merriweather connected with senior Bailee Vanover for a runner in the lane as Berea kept the pressure on forcing a Brevard timeout. After the timeout, freshmen Drea Satori intercepted a pass and kicked the ball up to Hampton for the fastbreak layup as Berea trailed 23-21 a little over a minute into the second quarter.

After the initial run by Berea, the Tornadoes pushed the lead back to five. However, no matter how hard Brevard tried to expand its lead, the Mountaineers continued to respond as they cut the lead to one on numerous occasions. Even though Berea shot just nine-for-34 in the first half, the Mountaineers continued to fight to trail 32-30 going into halftime.

Berea opened the second half with a 5-2 run to take the lead. Spalding scored the first three points for the Mountaineers, splitting her visit to the free-throw line and a fastbreak layup off a steal from Hampton. On the following defensive possession, Hampton nabbed her second consecutive steal and went coast-to-coast for the layup that put Berea in front 35-34 with 8:24 remaining in the third quarter.

Leading by seven points with a little under five minutes left in the quarter, the Mountaineers looked to push the lead to double digits. However, the Tornadoes trimmed the deficit to two with a 6-2 run. Berea ended the third quarter shooting well from the free-throw line, knocking down five of their six attempts from the charity stripe as the Mountaineers took a 53-49 advantage heading into the final quarter.

The Mountaineers expanded their lead to eight points to open the fourth quarter as Spalding scored four quick points. Brevard did well to keep the deficit to single digits in the final quarter of play, however, Berea's execution at the free-throw line in the last 10 minutes kept the Tornadoes at bay. The Mountaineers finished the quarter shooting 10-for-15 from the free-throw line for a 69-62 win over Brevard.

The Berea College women's basketball team returns home on Monday, Jan. 17 taking on Campbellsville-Harrodsburg (Ky.). Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Seabury Center.