By Charles Curcio Sports Editor

The lone Yadkin Valley Conference women’s basketball tournament game on Tuesday was the opening game of a doubleheader at Albemarle’s home gym. Albemarle took on a team the Bulldogs had bested 17 of the last 20 times, including the last five in a row, the South Stanly Rebel Bulls. On this night, a turnover-filled game went to the Bulldogs by 11 points, 46-35. Zycoria Tillman led Albemarle (19-6) with 20 points while Krystin McLendon added 14. Kimball Midgett paced South Stanly (6-17) with 12. Albemarle’s touch from the 3-point arc made a big difference in the outcome. The Bulldogs were 16-of-51 overall (31.4 percent) including 6-of-23 on 3-pointers. Albemarle was 8-of-13 at the free throw line. South Stanly shot a slightly higher percentage, but had few chances overall, shooting 12-of-37 (32.4 percent) from the field, hitting 1-of-9 from the 3-point arc. The Bulls were 10-of-18 at the foul line. South led 4-3 on two Huntley Rummage free throws and a D’Nysia Wall bucket before the Bulldogs went on a 14-0 run over the next three minutes. Tillman’s bucket with 1:09 left put Albemarle up 17-4. The Bulls scored four points in the final 23.4 seconds of the first quarter and trailed the Bulldogs after the period 17-8. Albemarle started connecting from long distance in the second period. Leading 19-13, McLendon hit a pair of treys, while Tillman added a 3-pointer for a 9-1 Bulldogs run. The hosts led at halftime 30-16. Over the first three minutes of the third period, the Bulldogs built a 19-point lead 40-21, but South started chipping away at the deficit. The Bulls scored six to get within 13 points before McLendon put Albemarle up 42-27 with a bucket in the final 11 seconds of the third. Albemarle’s poorest offensive quarter of the game came in the fourth as the Bulldogs were 1-of-8 and managed four points in the period. South outscored Albemarle 8-0 over a four-minute period in the middle of the fourth and got as close as nine. At 7 p.m. Thursday, Albemarle takes on No. 3 South Davidson in the semifinals of the YVC tournament at Pfeiffer University. On Monday, the Wildcats were 53-43 winners over No. 6 North Rowan. To submit story ideas, call Charles Curcio at (704) 982-2121, ext. 26, email charles@stanlynewspress.com or contact him via Twitter (@charles_curcio).