Bears Pull Away Late for Win Over Lions

HICKORY, N.C. – The Mars Hill women's basketball team lost to Lenoir-Rhyne 83-70 in South Atlantic Conference action on Saturday afternoon in Shuford Gymnasium. With the loss, Mars Hill falls to 4-12 and 3-9 in conference play. Lenior-Rhyne improves to 13-4 and 8-4 in the league.

Ansley Ricker led the Lions with a career high 37 points, with Cadence Wilmoth adding a season high 12 points.  Ricker's 37 point game was five short of Sonia Gahagan's school record of 42 set on February 6, 1991 against Presbyterian.

Jazmine Charles scored 21 points to lead the Bears. Jenni Gust contributed 17 points to the win, with Nneka Awuruonye adding 10 points.

The Lions took an early 3-0 lead thanks to a Ricker 3-pointer before Charles' 3-pointer gave Lenior-Rhyne a 7-5 advantage at the 17:35 mark. Ricker and the Lions would tie the game at 9 just over a minute later before the Bears took the lead an opened up a seven point lead, 24-17, with eight minutes left in the half. With Lenior-Rhyne leading 28-21 with 6:02 to play in the opening half, Mars Hill went a 12-4 run. The Lions reclaimed the lead with a Ricker jumper with 1:51 remaining in the half. An Awuruonye layup gave Lenoir-Rhyne a 34-33 lead with 64 seconds remaining, but a Wilmoth layup and two free throws sent the Lions to the locker room with a 37-34 halftime lead.

Lenoir-Rhyne chipped the Lion lead to begin the second half before a Danielle Bongiorno layup with 17:20 to play gave the Bears a 40-39 lead. Mars Hill regained the lead, 43-42, thanks to a pair of Ricker free throws with 15:04 remaining. The Bears and Lions traded the lead before Krystal Patton sank a 3-pointer to give Lenoir-Rhyne a 49-47 lead they wouldn't relinquish with 11:41 to play. A Genice Lane jumper cut the Bear lead to 57-56 with 8:44 remaining before Bears got a 3-pointer from Charles on their next possession to push the advantage to four points. Lenior-Rhyne outscored Mars Hill 23-14 over the final eight minutes.

Mars Hill returns to Stanford Arena on Wednesday night, welcoming Tusculum for a 6 p.m. tip-off.