Lions drop road contest to Lenoir-Rhyne

HICKORY, N.C. - The Mars Hill women's basketball team lost to Lenoir-Rhyne, 81-46, Saturday afternoon inside Shuford Gymnasium.

The Bears opened the contest on a 6-0 run before Valeriya Pokrovskaya's jump shot with 3:34 left in the first period stopped the streak momentarily. Marie Ritchie hit two free throws following the Mars Hill basket to give her four points in the period. Trailing 8-2, Alexus Grubbs would cut the lead in half, but was answered by a 3-pointer from Kendall Toineeta 20 seconds later. Both teams would trade baskets for the remaining 2:50 of the period, sending the Lions into the second period down 19-11.

With 4:29 remaining in the half, Lenoir- Rhyne strung together a 14-0 heading into halftime. Jackie Denny had five of the Bears' 14 points. Pokrovskaya scored all five Mars Hill points in the second period.

The Vidnoe, Russia native led the Lions with seven points after the opening 20 minutes. Mariah Johnson had five rebounds and two points. Toineeta led the Bears with 11 points and six assists. Denny collected seven rebounds along with her seven points.

Lenoir-Rhyne, leading 43-16, continued to pour on the points in the third period, outscoring the Lions 24-16. Ashely Rodriguez had nine points with three made 3-pointers in the third frame. Cierra Hampton had the first eight points for the Lions in the opening 2:36 of the period. Grubbs added six more points, but the Lions were unable to cut into the 35 point lead heading into the fourth.

In a more evenly played final stanza, Mariah Johnson exploded for 10 of her team-high 12 points. Despite matching Lenoir-Rhyne's 14-point output, it was too little, too late for the Lions as they dropped their 22nd straight contest.

The Bears outshot the Lions from beyond the arc, going 10-of-25 compared to the Lions 5-of-25. They outrebounded Mars Hill 25-10 and scored 23 points off of 17 Mars Hill turnovers.

Johnson added six rebounds and three steals to her 12 points. Hampton ended the contest with 10 points and five rebounds. Pokrovskaya had nine points and added four rebounds. 

Rodriguez shot 7-of-10 from the field for 18 points, including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. Toineeta dropped 14 points and had seven assists. Denny added 11 points and pulled down eight rebounds.

Mars Hill drops to 1-23 (0-16 SAC) while Lenoir-Rhyne goes to 14-11 (8-9 SAC).

The Lions return to Stanford Arena Wednesday, February 14th for a 6 p.m. contest against Anderson.