Women’s Basketball Falls at Lenoir-Rhyne

HICKORY, N.C. - Mars Hill lost at Lenoir-Rhyne University, 74-63 in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at Shuford Gym. The Lions fell to13-5 overall and 6-4 in the SAC. The Bears improved to 9-9 on the season and 6-4 in the league.

Tyler Carlson led MHC with 19 points and five assists. Taylor Deal and Margaret Harvey followed with 15 points apiece. Deal added nine rebou-Rhynends. Jocelyn Williams led Mars Hill on the boards with 14 rebounds. MHC hit only 36.2% (21-58) of their shots from the floor. The Lions lost the rebound battle, 40-35.

Cameron Sealey led the Bears with her career high 32 points. Whitley Culler and Caroline Laughter followed scoring 13 and 11 points in the win, respectively. The Bears hit 50.9% (28-55) of their field goals in the contest.

The Lions scored eight unanswered points to start the contest. Williams scored four of those points for MHC. The Lions then extended their lead to 11-2 at the 16:30 mark after Kristen Metcalf hit a shot from behind the arc. A layup by Sealey with 11:15 left in the first half capped off a 9-5 run to bring the Bears within four points (16-12). An offensive put-back by Whitney Brinkley made the score 18-17 in favor of the visitors with 7:35 left in the opening period. Laughter gave the Bears their first lead of the game at the 6:14 mark. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Sealey and Culler extended the Bears advantage to 26-18 with 4:32 on the clock. Thanks to 13 first half points from Sealey, the Bears took a 38-26 lead into the locker room at the intermission. After a slow start, L-R hit 50% (15-30) of their shots from the field. MHC went cold in the final 10 minutes of the half as they converted on only 31% (9-29) of their shots from the floor. Deal led MHC in the first frame with 10 points and four boards.

Mars Hill outscored the Bears 12-1 to open the second half of play as the Lions trailed by one point (39-38) with 16:09 left in the contest. During the next 11 minutes, L-R answered with a 27-15 run, capped off by a Sealey 3-pointer to give the home team a 66-53 advantage with 4:56 left in regulation. A pair of free throws by Tyler Carlson with 3:46 left in regulation cut the Lions deficit to nine points (66-57) but that was as close as MHC would get. The Bears maintained a double-digit lead in the final minutes of the game.

Mars Hill will host SAC rival Newberry College on Wednesday night in Stanford Arena. The Coca-Cola Tip-Show will begin at 5:30 p.m.