Lions down Owls in home opener

MARS HILL, N.C. - The Mars Hill women's basketball team (1-2) picked up their first win of the season with a 78-69 victory over Warren Wilson (1-6) Tuesday evening inside Stanford Arena.

To open the game, the Lions fell behind 4-0, but rallied to take 11 of the next 13 points to go up 11-6 with 5:31 remaining in the period.  Tatum Boggs scored nine of the team's points in that run.  The Lions would carry a seven point advantage up until the 6:05 mark of the frame before the Owls responded with a 6-0 run of their own to pull within one point.  A fast break lay up by Fajhenee Bradford with less than a minute remaining rebuilt the Mars Hill lead to three entering the second period.

Mars Hill's offense continued to dictate play, outscoring the Owls 21-13 in the frame.  Bradford led the Lions with eight points in the second and closed out the half with 12.  Boggs led all players with 16 points and added three rebounds.  Gabby Gianikos collected eight rebounds in 12:49 of action in the first half.

The Owls came out in the third period and flipped the table on the Lions, outscoring Mars Hill by a score of 21-14.  The teams traded baskets back and forth throughout the first seven minutes of the second half with Mars Hill maintaining a double-digit lead.  With just over two minutes left in the period, Warren Wilson scored eight straight points to pull within two of Mars Hill.  The Owls closed out the third period down by four with momentum heading into the final frame.

Mars Hill remained resilient in front of the home crowd and outscored the Owls 24-19 for their first win of the season and first win at home since the 2016-17 campaign.  The duo of Mariah Johnson and Alexis Pardue dominated in the final 10 minutes.  Pardue scored 11 of her 17 points in the fourth with Johnson assisting on four of her field goals.  Johnson also added eight points in the period and ended the game with a game-high 18 points.

Danasia Dumas led the Owls with 18 points and added eight rebounds.  Tierney Porter collected a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.  She also had a team-high four assists.

Johnson ended the contest with a double-double adding 10 assists on the night.  Pardue and Boggs each finished with 17 points while Bradford added 16 points.  Gianikos and Pardue led Mars Hill with eight rebounds apiece.

Mars Hill returns to action on Wednesday, November 28th when they host Belmont Abbey.  Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.