Women's Basketball Drops 70-57 Decision at Queens

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Mars Hill fell 70-57 in women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at Queens University in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball action. Ansley Ricker scored 20 points in the loss.

Ricker hit four 3-pointers to tally her fourth 20+ point performance of the season. She added five rebounds. Autumn Ward followed with eight points and five rebounds. Kelsey Espinosa tallied nine points. The Lions hit only 36.4% (20-55) from the floor in the game.

Nikia Squire led Queens in scoring with 28 points followed by Shonice Pettaway who recorded a double-double with 23 points and 13 rebounds. The Royals connected on 46.6% (27-58) from the floor and edged the Lions on the boards, 38-37. Queens scored half their points in the paint.

Ricker hit a shot from behind the arc with 15:39 left in the first half to give the Lions a four-point (10-6) lead. A layup by Lacey Singletary at the 12:56 mark gave Queens a 12-10 lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way. Singletary ended the 13-6 run with a shot in the lane to give the Royals an 11-point advantage (23-12) with 9:58 left in the first frame. The Lions answered out scoring Queens 10-1 over the next five minutes to trim the deficit to just two points (24-22) with 4:51 left in the half after Brittany Baker hit a layup. The Royals closed out the first half on a 12-3 run to send the teams into the locker room at the intermission with the score 34-27 in favor of the hosts.

Queens came out of in the second stanza and outscored the Lions, 14-1 to take their largest lead of 20 points (48-28) in the contest with 15:45 left in regulation after Squire hit a shot in the paint. That run sealed the win for the Royals. MHU cut the lead to 11 points on two occasions down the stretch but that was as close as they could get.

The Lions will play at Carson-Newman on Wednesday, January 8. Tip-off in Holt Fieldhouse is set for 6 p.m.