January 6, 2016
Women's Basketball Downs Lincoln Memorial
Cadence Wilmoth produced her first career triple-double with 15 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 blocked shots to help guide the Mars Hill Lions women’s basketball team to a pivotal South Athletic Conference win over Lincoln Memorial by a final of 72-60 on Wednesday at the friendly confines of Stanford Arena.
MARS HILL, N.C. – Cadence Wilmoth produced her first career triple-double with 15 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 blocked shots to help guide the Mars Hill Lions women's basketball team to a pivotal South Athletic Conference win over Lincoln Memorial by a final of 72-60 on Wednesday at the friendly confines of Stanford Arena. The 10 blocks for Wilmoth also ties a 29-year old program record for a single game. The Lions improve to 4-8 overall and 3-4 in conference while LMU falls to 7-5, 4-3.
Other than Wilmoth, three other players reached the double-digit plateau for the Lions. Kelsey Espinosa led the way with a game-high 18 points while Ansley Ricker and Genice Lane chipped in 17 and 11, respectively. MHU shot 43.5% from the field, while holding Lincoln Memorial to a cool 30.8%. The Lions took full advantage of their 35 trips to the charity stripe, connecting on 30 for an 86% mark.
The Railsplitters were led offensively by Megan Pittman who poured in a team-high 15 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Britney Guy and Kortnay Cox chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Both teams had a difficult time finding any offense in the early going as a layup by Wilmoth at the 9:16 mark of the first quarter gave the Lions a 2-0 lead. From that point the two teams combined for 0-11 from the floor. MHU was finally able to obtain some rhythm after two free throws by Kelsey Espinosa pushed them ahead 10-4 late in the first. However, an old-fashioned three-point play from Kiara Rawls and a 15-foot jumper from Britney Guy staked the Railsplitters to their first lead at 11-10. A couple free throws by Ansley Ricker gave the Lions a 12-11 lead after one period of play.
The second frame began much as the first with both squads trying to gain a definitive advantage. After MHU pushed ahead with an 18-14 lead, a long range shot and an offensive put back fueled a quick 7-0 run for LMU and gave it a 21-18 lead midway through the quarter. A hard fought first half came to an end with Lincoln Memorial on top by a score of 29-27.
Wilmoth squeezed through the defense and softly laid the ball off the glass to knot the score at 29-all at the 9:28 mark of the third quarter, but another crucial 7-0 run by LMU pushed the visitors ahead 36-29 after a three pointer from Guy. However, the Lions showed their resilience with a 12-2 run over the next five minutes to regain the lead 41-38. A deep three from Ansley Ricker closed out the scoring for the third and the Lions led 46-44 going into the final frame.
A back-and-forth affair would ensue to begin the final stanza as the game saw five lead changes during the first three and a half minutes. With the score even at 53, Ricker ignited the crowd with a timely bomb from downtown followed by a steal and layup by Genice Lane and a pair of free throws by Espinosa to give MHU a 60-53 lead with four minutes remaining. The Lions were able to connect on shots from the charity stripe down the stretch to secure the victory.
Mars Hill will take to the road on Saturday, January 9 to take on conference opponent Coker. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
