Comeback Attempt Falls Short As Lions Lose to Wingate

MARS HILL, N.C. – The Mars Hill women's basketball team dropped a hard-fought South Atlantic Conference contest against the visiting Wingate Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon. The Lions showed resiliency throughout the contest, but could not get over the top, eventually dropping the contest by a score of 80-73. Mars Hill is now 2-6 overall and 0-2 within the league, while Wingate improved to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the SAC.

Paige Chavis poured in a game-high 20 points while Jenny Edwards and Madison Ervin tallied 16 in the effort. Edwards tacked on a team-high nine boards. Aliyah Farmer continued her impressive start to the season with 10 points and seven rebounds. The Lions finished the game shooting 42% (29-69), including 43.8% (7-16) from three. Wingate held a 43-33 advantage on the boards, while the Lions forced 15 Bulldog turnovers.

Wingate wasted little time building a comfortable lead, jumping up 9-0 with just over three minutes expired off the clock. However, Chavis developed a hot hand and guided the Lions on an 11-4 run to narrow the deficit to 13-11 following a bomb at the 4:55 mark. Wingate turned the tables and used a 12-4 run to take a 25-15 lead after one.

The second quarter was a back-and-forth affair as the Bulldogs went up by 14 (29-15), but could not pull away from the Lions. For every run Wingate tried to make, Mars Hill did the same and WU took a 39-29 lead into the half.

Wingate looked primed to put the game out of reach, starting the second half with a mini 11-6 run and building its biggest lead of 50-35. Once again the Lions refused to lay down, continuing to chip away at the lead and finished the third quarter by outscoring the Bulldogs 17-16 and trailing by single digits heading into the final stanza.

Sydney Comer started the fourth with a triple that sparked a 9-0 run by the Lions, trimming the lead to 57-55 with 7:47 remaining in regulation. With the score at 61-59 in favor of WU, a missed layup by the Lions lead to six consecutive points by the Bulldogs and a 67-59 margin with 3:16 to play. The Lions used one last attempt to claw their way back as Edwards knocked down a shot in the paint to make the score 74-70, but that was as close as the Lions would get, dropping the contest 80-73.

The Lions will return to action on Saturday, December 10 as they travel to Salisbury, N.C. to take on the Catawba Indians. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.