Lions Defeat SAC-Leader Anderson on Senior Day
MARS HILL, N.C.- The Mars Hill women's basketball team sent its senior class out with a 61-42 victory over SAC-leader Anderson on Senior Day at Stanford Arena.
A season-high nine three-pointers helped spark the Lions victory. Mars Hill honored seniors Kristen Metcalf, Katie Buckner and Erica Warren prior to the final home game of their Lion careers. Metcalf tied a career-high with 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including 5-of-9 from three-point range. Alissa Diaz paced Anderson with 13 points and six rebounds. Mars Hill concludes its season 7-19 overall and 4-14 in SAC play. Anderson will head to the SAC Tournament with a 20-8 overall record, 14-4 in league play.
Ansley Ricker added 10 points for Mars Hill. Armeka Booker scored seven points, while Kelsey Espinosa chipped in with seven points and eight rebounds. The Lions shot 37 percent overall (20-of-54) and 9-of-18 from three-point range (50 percent).
Breonda Shannon, Lesley Woods and Sierra Simpson scored six points apiece for Anderson. The Trojans shot 31.4 percent from the field (16-of-51).
Metcalf's three-point shooting helped spark Mars Hill to a 12-point halftime lead. The senior connected on 5-of-7 from distance in the first half to score 15 points. The Lions closed the first half on an 11-4 run, sparked by two threes by Metcalf, a three by Ricker and a layup by Espinosa. Mars Hill held a 33-21 lead at the half.
The Trojans closed the deficit to six with a 6-0 run to open the half. The Lions answered that with 9-0 run of their own to open up a 15-point lead.
Booker started the run with a layup and old-fashioned three-point lead to push the play to double-digits. Back-to-back jumpers by Cadence Wilmoth and Espinosa pushed the score to 42-27 with 13:06 to play. Anderson would not close to single digits the rest of the game.
Metcalf scored all six of her second-half points in the final 2:17 to help close out the victory.