Ricker's Big Shot Grounds Eagles

MARS HILL, N.C. – The Mars Hill women's basketball team finished off an unbelievable comeback win Wednesday, February 03 inside Stanford Arena. Down by 13 heading into the final quarter the Lions outscored the Carson-Newman Eagles 26-12 over the final 10 minutes to claim a dramatic and pivotal South Atlantic Conference win, 83-82. MHU improves to 10-9 overall and 9-5 within conference while C-N falls to 15-6, 9-6.

With the game looking to be all but over at 82-78 and only 15 seconds remaining on the game clock with C-N in possession, a technical foul was called on the Eagles and set up the wild finish. Paige Chavis calmly stepped to the foul line and knocked down two free throws to trail only 82-80. Since it was a technical foul MHU retained possession. Genice Lane found Ansley Ricker on the left wing and she drained a long-range bomb to send Stanford Arena into absolute pandemonium. A last-chance attempt by Burstrom glanced off the side of the rim and Lane rejected a would-be put back to seal the deal.

Ricker led all scorers with a game-high 28 points, including five shots from downtown. Kelsey Espinosa was a master on the boards, turning in her second double-double of the season with 11 rebounds and 21 points. Chavis chipped in 15 points and six rebounds while Cadence Wilmoth dropped 10 points and five boards.

The Lions got off to a hot offensive start as they quickly jumped out to a 12-6 lead following a long ball from Ricker at the 5:54 mark of the opening quarter. C-N took advantage of multiple second-chance opportunities and pushed ahead in the game 27-19 after three free throws by Burstrom with less than a second left in the first quarter. The Eagles collected 12 offensive rebounds for eight points to open the contest.

A layup from Ricker to start the second snapped a streak of 10 straight points for Carson-Newman. A jumper from the Eagles gave them their biggest lead of 33-24 with seven minutes left in the second, but MHU turned up the defense to a tune of a 9-2 run to cut into the lead, 35-33.  The two teams traded baskets over the next several minutes and C-N beat the buzzer with a lay-in to take a 47-42 advantage into the break.

Neither team could get an advantage offensively to start the second half, trading the initial 22 points. However, the Eagles gained breathing room, taking a 58-53 lead and turning it into their biggest lead of the night at 66-53 following a layup by Kailyn Brooks at the 2:28 mark of the quarter. The game was even for the remaining of the third and C-N took a 70-57 advantage into the final quarter.

The Lions showed their poise and began to make a comeback with an 11-3 run to open the fourth to narrow the gap to 73-68 with just under six minutes remaining in regulation. That streak became 20-9 with a hoop and harm by Espinosa that cut the deficit to 79-77 with two and a half minutes to go. A frantic finish would ensue and the Lions pulled off an incredible win by the score of 83-82. The win snaps a seven game losing streak in the series to Carson-Newman.

Mars Hill will be back in action on Saturday, February 6 as they travel down I-26 to face Newberry. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.