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Lady Saints Poised Late, Defeat Mars Hill 86-81
MARS HILL, NC
– The North Georgia women’s basketball team converted
24-34 free throws, including seven straight free throws in the
final 35 seconds of the game, to defeat Mars Hill 86-81 on Saturday
inside Stanford Arena in non-conference action.
The Lady Saints improve to 4-2 overall on the season with their
third straight victory, while the Lions fall to 2-6 and have lost
four straight games.
The first half was a back and forth affair as Mars Hill grabbed an
11-10 lead seven minutes into the contest off a jumper by Margaret
Harvey.
North Georgia held a three-point advantage, 29-26, off a trey by
Meredith Montgomery, but the Lions took the upper hand, 36-35, off
a layup by Krystal Moore with 57 seconds remaining in the first
half. Sarah Stinson would give North Georgia the upper hand heading
in intermission however, as the junior got an offensive rebound and
converted a layup as time expired to give the Lady Saints the
halftime edge.
North Georgia stretched its lead to eight points, 55-47, at the
13:21 mark in the second half off a layup by Alyssa Stokes, but
Mars Hill cut the deficit to 57-55 off two free throws by Taylor
Deal two minutes later. An Ieshia Alexander layup pushed the Lady
Saint lead back to six points, 63-57, but the Lions tied the game
at the 6:55 mark off a three by Moore.
With the game tied at 67 with 4:45 left in the game, Stokes nailed
two free throws, and Mars Hill never regained the lead as North
Georgia held on for the 86-81 victory.
Whitney Randolph led all North Georgia scorers with 22 points,
while Janyce Ealey posted a double-double with 16 points and 12
rebounds. Stokes netted a season-high 21 points on 3-4 shooting
from behind the arc and 6-8 shooting from the floor.
Young scored a game-high 24 points for Mars Hill. Moore finished
with 17 points, 13 of those coming in the second half. Deal
recorded 10 points.
The Lions were 13-23 from three-point range in the game compared to
only 4-13 for the Lady Saints, but North Georgia outrebounded Mars
Hill 48-31 overall and 16-4 on the offensive boards.
The Lady Saints will look to keep their win-streak alive next
weekend, traveling to the Florida Southern College Holiday Inn
Classic to take on St. Leo on Saturday afternoon, before opposing
host Florida Southern on Sunday to cap off the holiday event.
