Women’s Basketball defeats Converse

MARS HILL, N.C. - Taylor Deal posted a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Mars Hill women's basketball team over Converse, 88-67, in the first game of the Biltmore Farms/Mars Hill Classic. The Lions improve to 2-1. The Valkyries drop to 0-3.

Converse grabbed an early five-point lead, 14-9, at the 15:50 mark of the first half. Tasia Holdorf drilled a three and scored seven of her team's first 14 points.
From there, Mars Hill took control and garnered a 32-24 advantage with 3:47 left in the first period off a layup by Deal. The Lions took a 41-24 lead into halftime. Brittini Young scored 14 of her game-high 21 points in the first half.

Mars Hill grabbed its first double-digit margin of the game two minutes into the second half. Margaret Harvey converted two free throws to make the score 46-36.
Leading 63-54 at the midpoint of the second period, the Lions pulled away with a 10-0 spurt. Kristen Metcalf started the run with a layup, and Harvey concluded the run with a layup.

The difference swelled to as much as 23 points, 79-56, with 4:56 left in the game when Metcalf drilled a shot from behind the arc.

Metcalf finished with 14 points and was 4-6 from three-point range. Tyler Carlson had 13 points.

Holdorf concluded the game with 19 points. Brandy Williams came up with nine points. Katy Vaughan and Jasmine Middlebrooks each had eight points.

Mars Hill outrebounded Coker 51-45, including 19-11 on the offensive glass. The Lions were 10-24 from behind the arc, while the Valkyries were only 5-21 from distance.

In the second game on Friday, Lenoir-Rhyne used a 20-2 run to open the second half to put away Coker, 76-45. The Bears improve to 2-1. The Cobras drop to 0-3.

Whitney Brinkley scored the first six points of the game for Lenoir-Rhyne on three layups. Coker cut the deficit to one point, 11-10, six minutes into the game off a three by Nikki Grigsby.

A layup by Krystal Patton at the 10:07 mark gave Lenoir-Rhyne its first double-digit lead, 23-12. Trailing 29-16 at the 7:08 point of the first period, the Cobras rallied with a 7-0 spurt that was capped by a layup by Megan Thomas.

However, Coker would get no closer and trailed 37-25 at halftime. The Bears led by 26 or more points for much of the second half.

Brinkley finished with a game-high 20 points and seven rebounds. Patton followed up with 14 points. Cameron Sealey added 10 points.

Grigsby scored a team-high nine points for the Cobras. Thomas and Janell Dunham each tallied eight points.

Lenoir-Rhyne was 1-8 from three-point range, while Coker was 3-20. The Bears outrebounded the Cobras 50-33, including 22-8 on the offensive boards.

On Saturday, Lenoir-Rhyne and Converse will battle at 3 p.m. Mars Hill will square off against Coker in the final game of the Biltmore Farms/Mars Hill Classic at 5 p.m.