Staff report
MOUNT ULLA — West Rowan girl’s basketball team won 65-40 against Salisbury on Tuesday, extending their winning streak to a sweet 16 and stopping the Hornets’ own modest streak at five games.
The Falcons, 2-21 in 2024-25, are headed for the biggest turnaround season in Rowan history.
West (16-0, 7-0) completed the first lap of the South Piedmont Conference season undefeated. The Falcons have started a season 16-0 for only the second time. The 2022-23 team won all 31. The 2012-13 team won its first 15 before losing to North Iredell.
Tiara Thompson, a senior who leads the county in scoring, led the Falcons with 20 points. She made three 3-pointers. West also got double-digit efforts from Jahneria Hurd (13), Aubrey Martin (11) and Jamiela Allen (10). Hurd had her best game in several weeks.
Jaliyah McNeely led the Hornets (6-6, 5-2) with 11 points. Elle Blankenship was next with seven points. She made Salisbury’s only 3-pointer in the fourth quarter.
The Hornets had some leads in the opening minutes, but the last tie was at 8-all. The Falcons put together a 7-0 run for a 15-8 lead at the end of the quarter and stretched the lead to 14 points by halftime. West led by at least a dozen points the entire second half.
Salisbury coach Lakai Brice has coached 228 wins at Salisbury. Ashley Poole has coached 224 wins at West. Both are in their 13th season. They are No. 3 and No. 4 all-time for Rowan girls basketball.
Salisbury 8 9 10 13 — 40
West 15 16 19 15 — 65
SHS — McNeely 11, Blankenship 7, Ambers 6, Spruill 5, Woodruff 4, Fatovic 3, Gibson 2, Haines 2.
WEST — Thompson 20, Hurd 13, A. Martin 11, Allen 10, Hoffner 4, Smith 3, Everhart 2, Pharr 2.
