Balanced Offense Leads Lions to Win Over Livingstone

MARS HILL, N.C. – The Mars Hill women's basketball team squandered a 17 point lead, but held on for a 79-75 victory over Livingstone on Wednesday evening inside Chambers Gymnasium. Several players recorded double-doubles and career-highs as the Lions improved to 2-5 overall, while the Blue Bears fell to 3-4.

Paige Chavis led all scorers with 24 to go along with her season-high 14 rebounds, collecting her second double-double on the season. Madison Ervin and Jenny Edwards were also able to notch double-doubles as both players played a crucial role in the Lions victory. Ervin tallied 15 points and 10 boards, both career-highs, while Edwards provided 12 points and 14 rebounds. Aliyah joined in the double-double club with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Mars Hill absolutely dominated the boards on the evening, collecting a season-high 65 to Livingstone's 40. Of the 65 boards, 20 were of the offensive variety. The Lions also set season-highs in free throw attempts (42) and makes (32).

The Lions used a tenacious defense and hot shooting to start the contest, jumping out to a 14-2 lead just four minutes into the first quarter. That lead grew to 19-4 before Livingstone collected five straight and seven of the next nine to cut the deficit to 21-13 at the 1:46 mark. Chavis knocked down a corner three and MHU led 24-15 after one.

Mars Hill opened the second quarter with a 6-2 run following a kiss off the glass from three by Sydney Comer, expanding the lead to 30-17. However, an 8-0 run by the Blue Bears made the score 30-25 with six and a half to play before halftime. A Madison Ervin layup with 2:32 remaining snapped a five and a half minute scoring drought for the Lions, but also sparked a pivotal 6-0 mini run that eventually sent Mars Hill into the locker room with a 36-27 advantage.

The Lions started the second half much the way they did in the first, reeling off an 8-2 run, bolstering the lead to 44-29 at the 7:53 mark of the third. Livingstone did not go away as it went on a 13-4 run in just over two minutes to close the gap to 48-42. Seven straight from the Blue and Gold pushed the lead back to double-digits (55-42). Mars Hill outscored the Blue Bears 6-4 over the remainder of the quarter to head to the fourth leading 61-46.

Livingstone made a game of it to start the fourth after going on a massive 16-2 run, cutting the Lions lead to a single point (63-62). Just minutes later LC gained its first lead of the game (67-65) following a three-point play by Ariana De'Jesus. Mars Hill then used a 9-0 run to regain the lead 74-67, but six straight from Livingstone once again cut the deficit to one (74-73) with under a minute to play.

Clutch free throws down the stretch allowed Mars Hill to hang on to the 79-75 hard-fought victory. Ariana De'Jesus led the Blue Bears with 22 points and eight rebounds.

Mars Hill will host Wingate University in a South Atlantic Conference matchup on Saturday, December 3. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.