Lions Continue Hot Streak With Win at Queens

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Senior guard Ansley Ricker poured in a game-high 22 points, including four threes to guide the Mars Hill women's basketball team to its 10^th win in the past 12 contests. The Lions were able to fend off a pesky Queens University by a score of 72-58 on Saturday, February 13 at the Levine Center. MHU now improves to 13-10 overall and 12-6 within the South Atlantic Conference while the Royals fall to 4-19, 2-16.

Cadence Wilmoth chipped in 13 points while Kelsey Espinosa and Raven Brown added eight apiece in the winning effort. Brown saw 21 minutes of action off the bench and took advantage of the golden opportunity as she added a game-high eight rebounds to go with her points.

The Lions shot 48.6% from the field and connected on seven shots from downtown. They also held a 34-27 rebounding advantage and outscored the Royals 14-4 on second chance points. Bench points went in favor of the Blue and Gold as well, outscoring QU 17-5 from the pine.

Mars Hill wasted no time getting on the scoreboard as Espinosa knifed her way to the basket for the game's first points and a pair of threes from Paige Chavis and Ricker sandwiched a jump shot from the Royals, giving MHU a quick 8-2 lead. However, Queens used a 9-2 spurt to gain its first lead of the contest at 11-10 and eventually took its biggest lead at 18-13 after a layup at the 2:41 mark of the opening quarter.

A timeout by the Lions was just what the doctor ordered as they collected the first eight points following the hiatus to push ahead 21-18 and would lead 21-20 after one.

The second quarter was a back-and-forth affair with neither team pushing ahead by more than five points. Queens was able to battle back and take a slim 29-28 lead following a three with 5:38 remaining before the intermission. Once again the Lions used their timeouts wisely and put a stop to the momentum shift. Coming out of the break, MHU used a 9-1 run to take its biggest lead of the half at 37-30 and went into the locker room leading 37-32.

The third quarter produced a seesaw effort on both sides as the five point lead from the Lions remained true throughout the quarter. That is until Brown grabbed an offensive rebound and laid the ball gently off the glass to extend the lead to 53-44 with less than a minute remaining in the third.

The Lions never trailed in the second half and built their biggest lead at 70-54 after a Sydney Comer layup with 1:22 remaining. Queens collected four of the next six points and the final score ended at 72-58.

The 13^th win on the season is the most by a Lions team since the 2010-11 squad secured 16 victories and the 12 conference wins are the most by Lions team since the league went to a 22-game slate.

Mars Hill will return to action on Wednesday, February 17 as they travel to play conference foe Lincoln Memorial. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.