TALLADEGA – The Lady Tornadoes of Talladega College made the most of their first home game in 2010, defeating Morris College, 86-69 on Saturday.

The Lady Tornadoes found a rhythm quickly, scoring points off of steals and fast breaks. TC led by five points before the Lady Hornets got on the board.

Morris College fought back and scored six unanswered points to take the lead with 16:53 remaining in the opening half. The home team took control again with a layup by Ebony Richardson with 16:41 to go in the half and TC didn’t trail again. The sophomore from Oakland, Calif. put up eight points and had at least three assists in the first half.

“Right now she’s playing fantastic,” TC head coach Romeo Lagmay said of Richardson. “I pulled her into my office and said Eb, it’s time for you to take control of the offense. You have to let your post players know you have confidence in them, let your shooters know you have confidence in them and that just builds confidence in yourself and if you feel like you can take over, do it. She talks to me sometimes on the sidelines, says ‘Coach, how do you feel about this adjustment?’ That’s good. She’s the coach on the floor. She has a lot of confidence.”

Senior Morgan Bennett had 15 points in the first half alone to lead TC. The Lady Tornadoes held a 45-37 advantage at intermission.

The second half saw more of the same from the Lady Tornadoes and the Lady Hornets couldn’t find a way to answer. Richardson had 11 points in the second half and senior Tamiko Rounds added 10 to keep the Lady Tornadoes in control of the game.

TC finished with four players scoring in double figures. Bennett led the way with 21 points while Richardson added 19. Rounds had 17 and Whitney Love put up 13 for the game. Shakila Cole chipped in with eight.

Lagmay said he was pleased with the teamwork his squad showed on Saturday.

“We talked about (having) a sense of urgency,” Lagmay said. “We talked about people just playing for one another and being ready to attack on offense and defense. We just had more of a sense of urgency out there. We know we’re in shape now and we’re running. We’re getting the ball out and we’re running. We know that’s one of our major strengths.”

Morris College’s Shaniqua Campbell led all scorers with 20 points. Erica Wilkerson had 12 while Tyneshia Eaddy added 10 for the Lady Hornets.

TC moves to 9-9 on the season and will host Truett-McConnell on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.