Women's Basketball Cruises To Fifth Straight Win With Dismantling Of Anderson

MARS HILL, N.C. - Kelsey Espinosa and Paige Chavis put on a shooting clinic, combining for 19-25 from the field and chipping in 25 points apiece and the Mars Hill women's basketball team dominated Anderson University on Wednesday night at Stanford Arena to collect its fifth consecutive win. The Lions improve to 8-8 overall and 7-4 within the conference while the Trojans fall to 12-3, 10-2.

The Lions blistered the nets on the night shooting a season-best 55.2% from the field and put four scorers in double-figures with Ansley Ricker dropping in 17 and Cadence Wilmoth poured in 13 to go along with Espinosa and Chavis. MHU held a 42-32 advantage in the paint. The defense of the Lions was on point tonight as well, holding Anderson to a dismal 36% from the field and forcing 16 turnovers.

Genice Lane filled up the stat sheet as she turned in a solid performance with four points, seven rebounds, eight assists, and five steals.

Espinosa asserted herself in the early going as she put up the first six points for the Lions followed by an acrobatic reverse layup by Wilmoth that staked the home team to an 8-5 lead just four minutes into the contest. After the game saw three ties and two led changes over the next several minutes, Ricker hit Chavis on a beautiful back cut and Chavis laid the ball softly off the glass as she was hammered on the arm to collect the old-fashioned three point play that gave MHU a 19-15 lead. After one quarter of play the Lions were ahead 22-17.

The Lions carried the momentum into the second frame as masterful passes to open teammates opened the margin up to a 28-19 lead, forcing a stoppage of action from the Trojans. The hiatus paid dividends for Anderson as a quick 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 30-26, but a hoop and harm from Wilmoth pushed the Blue and Gold back ahead by seven with just under five minutes remaining before the half. For every score that Anderson dropped through, Mars Hill had an answer and took a ten-point lead, 42-32, into intermission.

The Trojans came out of the gates in the second half with a 10-2 spurt that narrowed the gap to 44-42, but Ricker came through once more with a big shot from downtown and Espinosa turned a turnover into two more points to try and regain the momentum for the Lions. MHU continued to shoot the ball extremely well as Chavis knocked down a pair of triples and Epsinosa patented the fifteen foot jump shot as the Lions built their biggest lead 63-50, heading into the final stanza.

Trying to pull off what most would call an upset, the Blue and Gold came out on a mission in the fourth quarter tallying 12 of the first 14 points to extend to their biggest lead 75-52 with seven minutes remaining in regulation. From that point it was all academic as Mars Hill ran away with its season-best fifth consecutive win, toppling the first-place Trojans, 93-73.

The Lions will be back in action on Saturday, January 30 as they travel to Salisbury, N.C. to face Catawba. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.