Women’s Basketball Loses to Bears

MARS HILL, N.C. - The Lenoir-Rhyne Women's Basketball Team (14-5, 6-4) rallied from a 16-point, second-half deficit to defeat Mars Hill (10-9, 3-7), 66-61, Saturday afternoon in a South Atlantic Conference game at Stanford Arena.

The Bears' Cameron Sealey led all scorers with 23 points and hit all 12 free throw attempts while Krystal Patton added 16 points and finished 11-for-12 from the charity stripe.

Mars Hill was led by Jackie Simon with a team-high 14 points while Armeka Booker and Kristen Metcalf added 11 points each in the loss.

Lenoir-Rhyne jumped out to an 11-4 lead on a lay-up by Whitley Culler just 4:31 into the contest before Mars Hill took control with a 25-6 run.

Mars Hill held a 36-23 advantage at halftime and pushed its lead to 16 points at 50-34 on a jumper by Simon with 11:18 remaining in the contest.

However, Lenoir-Rhyne began to mount its comeback from there and eventually took the lead, 59-58, on a pair of free throws by Patton at the 2:34 mark of the second half.

The free throws were part of a 9-0 run by the Bears as Lenoir-Rhyne took a 63-58 lead with 39 seconds left and held on for the win.

Lenoir-Rhyne's comeback was aided by its performance from the free throw line. The Bears shot 80 percent (31-of-39) for the game including 83 percent (25-of-30) from the charity stripe in the second half.

Culler added 10 points and seven rebounds for Lenoir-Rhyne, who held a 44-39 advantage on the boards and forced 23 turnovers in the victory.

Lenoir-Rhyne remains on the road to face Anderson in a South Atlantic Conference game on Wednesday beginning at 6:00 p.m. Mars Hill, meanwhile, plays at league-foe Newberry on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m., as well.