Huff Makes History with Early 3-Point Field Goal

TOWSON, Md. — There was little suspense as to whether or not tonight's game would be the one in which Sharnell Huff (Bowie, Md./Bowie) became the 10th player in the history of Goucher's women's basketball program to score 1,000 points in her career. That was virtually guaranteed on Wednesday when the senior guard erupted for 36 points against Catholic to move to within three points of the milestone.

Huff didn't waste too much time getting the three points she needed either. Tonight's Landmark Conference contest against Moravian in the Decker Sports & Recreation Center wasn't even three minutes old when she accepted a pass from Precious Kollock (Baltimore, Md./Pataspco) and immediately went up, releasing a shot a step or two behind the 3-point line that found nothing but net.

It was Huff's 40th made 3-point basket in 2013-14 and the 116th during her four seasons with the Gophers, which tied the school record established by Shadae Swan (2005-08) for most career 3-point field goals.

Huff passed Swan when she nailed her second 3-pointer of the contest with 6:23 remaining in the first half. For the game, she was 8-for-16 from the field, including 5-for-7 on 3-point tries, plus she made six of the eight free throws she was awarded.

"I wasn't necessarily thinking about getting to 1,000 with a 3-pointer, but in at least two of our recent games I've made a 3 on our first possession, so it was in the back of my mind that it could happen that way." Huff said after the game. "Once I shot it, I felt pretty confident it was going in.

"I never scored 1,000 points or anything like that in high school or on any other level, so this is something I'm really proud of doing."

The game was stopped immediately and Huff was presented with the game ball by head coach Didi Cotton, who ranks fourth on Goucher's all-time scoring list with 1,513 points.

When play resumed, Moravian went on a 14-2 run, turing its slim 7-5 lead into a 21-7 advantage in just over three minutes. The Greyhounds, who still led by 14 at the end of the first half, pulled ahead by as many as 21 points in the second period before settling for a 74-65 victory.

It took one stretch in which Moravian missed 10 consecutive field goal attempts for the team's shooting percentage in the first half to dip below 50 percent. Including the 8-for-11 effort by Laura Jordan, who accumulated 18 points by halftime, the Greyhounds (16-3, 7-1 Landmark) were 16-for-34 from the field (.471) in the opening 20 minutes.

Moravian never cooled off at all in the second half. The Greyhounds made 14 of the 23 shots they attempted (.609), and four of their nine misses were from 3-point range.

Alesha Marcks provided Moravian with its largest lead of the contest when she converted a layup to make the score 67-46 with 7:47 left to play.

The Gophers (5-13, 1-7 Landmark) outscored the Greyhounds, 19-7, the rest of the way, reducing their deficit to single digits when Kollock  made a layup in the final seconds to close out the scoring.

Jordan made all three of the shots she took in the second half as she finished with 24 points to lead Moravian, which remained tied with Catholic for second place in the Landmark Conference, a half-game back of Scranton. Marcks contributed 18 points off the bench to the victory.

Kollock's final basket put her into double figures at 10 points.

For the game, the Gophers were 20-for-51 from the field (.392).

It's now back to the road for Cotton's team, which travels to Selinsgrove, Pa. on Wednesday to face Susquehanna at 7 p.m.