Lions Fall at Livingstone

SALISBURY, N.C. - The Mars Hill women's basketball team lost 65-60 at Livingstone on Wednesday night in Trent Gym. Livingstone improves to 1-0 on the 2015-16 season while Mars Hill falls to 1-2.

Cadence Wilmoth led the Lions with 17 points, followed by Genice Lane with 13 points and Shakira Allen with 11 points. Lane pulled down a team-leading nine rebounds. Raven Brown had four steals while Sydney Comer had five assists.

Livingstone was led by Amber Curtis with 19 points. Kyala Searcy scored 15 points, followed by Brittany Taylor with 12 points and Taylor Daniels with 10 points. Daniels had a game-high 12 rebounds.

Livingstone opened the first quarter on an 8-0 run and led by as many as 11 points (20-9) before the period ended with the Lady Blue Bears holding a 20-11 lead.

Neither team finished in double figures in the second quarter as Mars Hill outscored Livingstone 9-7 in the period. After a Toxiana Wilson free throw gave the hosts a 23-11 lead, Mars Hill went on a 9-2 run to pull within five, 25-20 with 2:45 to go in the half. Allen provided the Lions with five points during their run. Livingstone led 27-20 at halftime.

A Wilmoth layup at the 6 minute mark of the third quarter brought the Lions to within three, 29-26. Livingstone would lead 35-28 before MHU pulled to within two, 39-37, following a Paige Chavis layup with 1:08 to go in the frame. The Lady Blue Bears led 42-37 at the end of the quarter.

The Lady Blue Bears pushed their lead back to 10, 51-41, with 7:49 to play following a Daniels layup. A Comer jumper followed by an Allen layup cut the Lion deficit to 53-52 with just under three minutes to play. Following a pair of Taylor free throws with 1:06 remaining to give Livingstone a 61-56 advantage, MHU used a Lane layup to pull within three, 61-58, with 44 seconds left. Searcy would sink four free throws down the stretch as Mars Hill would get no closer than three points for the rest of the contest.

The Lions outshot Livingstone from the field 41.9 percent to 35 percent but the Lady Blue Bears held a 38.1 percent to 17.6 percent advantage from behind the three-point line. Livingstone also made 68.2 percent of their free throws (15 for 22) compared to 50 percent for Mars Hill (5 for 10). 

Mars Hill welcomes No. 12 Limestone to Stanford Arena on Saturday for the 2015-16 home opener at 2 p.m.