The Rust Lady Bearcats have returned to the top of the HBCU Athletic Conference (HBCUAC), beating the Talladega Lady Tornadoes 67-60 to claim the 2026 Women’s Basketball conference championship.
This marks the fourth HBCUAC tournament championship for the Rust women’s basketball team, including a streak of three straight from 2022-2024, dating back when the conference was known as the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference.
Entering the HBCUAC basketball tournament as the third-seed in the East division, having finished the regular season with a 15-10 overall record, Rust endured a gauntlet en route to the championship game.
Playing with a shrunk lineup of just six players, the Bearcats’ journey to the HBCUAC title game included winning three games in four days.
Beginning on Wednesday, they opened the tournament by breezing past Huston-Tillotson 79-49 in the second round.
Returning to the court on Friday, they put up another virtuoso performance against Paul Quinn, leading for nearly the entire game on their way to a 72-58 win.
On Saturday, the Bearcats clinched a spot in the championship game, overcoming a 15-point deficit to upset the East division champion Oakwood 74-71.
In the way of championship glory was a Talladega team that they had success against during the regular season, sweeping both matchups, including an 84-67 win in their most recent meeting on January 22.
As the two-seed in the East, the Tornadoes bypassed the first two rounds into the quarterfinals, beating Philander Smith and Wiley to set up their showdown with Rust.
Three-point shooting was the key to victory for Rust, with senior guard Genae Garner putting on a spectacular display of shot-making to put her team in front in the first half.
Garner was a perfect 5-for-5 from three-point range in the first half (ended the game 6-for-9), scoring 17 points and helping her team take a 13-point lead in the first half.
Meanwhile, the Talladega offense struggled to get going, shooting 31% from the field in the first half.
While they would turn things around in the second half, trimming their deficit to as low as three points, free-throw shooting limited their chances of winning.
They connected on just 3-of-11 free throws in the game, including just 1-of-5 in the fourth quarter, compared to 16-of-19 shooting by the Bearcats.
