Lions' Comeback Falls Short Against Rams
The Lions lost to visiting Winston-Salem State University 82-72 Thursday night in Stanford Arena. Autumn Ward led the Lions scoring her season high 21 points in the contest.
MARS HILL, N.C. – The Lions lost to visiting Winston-Salem State University 82-72 Thursday night in Stanford Arena. Mars Hill fell to 2-6 on the year while WSSU improved to 5-3 on the season.
Autumn Ward led the Lions scoring her season high 21 points in the contest. Kelsey Espinosa followed with 19 points and nine rebounds while Ansley Ricker added 13 points.
Dionna Scott led the Rams with a double-double scoring a game high 27 points and pulling down 15 rebounds in the win. Scott was 8-12 from the floor and 11-12 from the foul line. Tayler Wells and Jasmine Elum followed scoring 17 and 16 points in the game, respectively.
WSSU never trailed in the game. The Rams jumped out to a six-point lead (8-2) with 18:07 left in the first half after Elum hit a layup. A jumper by Autumn Ward trimmed the lead to 9-7 with 14:43 on the clock. A 19-7 run by the Rams gave WSSU a 28-14 lead with 8:06 left in the first stanza after Somalia McKenney hit a foul shot. The Rams led by as many as 17 points (42-25) with 3:11 left in the first period after Vanessa Weston hit a shot at the free throw line. A layup by Kelsey Espinosa ended a 7-2 run by the Lions to close out the half and send the teams into the locker room with WSSU leading 44-32.
MHU came out in the second half and slowly began to chip away at the Rams' lead. Two successful free throws by Espinosa cut the deficit to just five points (54-49) with 13:14 left in the game. WSSU jumped back up by 10 points (61-51) after Scott hit a shot in the lane. Over the next nine minutes, the Lions outscored the Rams, 19-7 to cut the lead to just two points (70-68) with 4:20 left in regulation after Espinosa went 1-2 at the foul line. After a turnover and two missed shots by the Lions, the Rams scored eight unanswered points to seal the win. Amanda Hairston scored four points in the run for the Rams. A layup by Genice Lane on the Lions ensuing possession brought MHU within eight points (78-70) of the Rams with 1:20 on the clock but that was as close as the Lions would get.
Mars Hill will close out the 2013 portion of their schedule at King University on December 21. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.
