Lions earn first victory over Converse
The Mars Hill women's basketball team came away with a 66-60 victory over Converse on day two of the SAC/Conference Carolinas Challenge Saturday afternoon. Maddie Webb had a double-double on the day.
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - The Mars Hill women's basketball team came away with a 66-60 victory over Converse on day two of the SAC/Conference Carolinas Challenge Saturday afternoon. Maddie Webb had a double-double on the day.
Webb, who scored 14 and recorded 12 rebounds, paced the Lions offense to pick up their first victory of the 2017-18 campaign.
Mars Hill was down early when Converse's Tiffani Riggen hit two consecutive three-point attempts to jump out to a 6-0 lead. Riggen scored eight of the team's 14 first quarter points. The Lions clawed their way back into the game led by Sheena Johnson's seven points.
Momentum carried over for the Lions as they outscored the Valkyries 20-12 with Webb converting on all six free throw attempts. The team went 14-14 from the line in the second frame. Abigail Lewis scored four points for Converse in the second quarter. Mars Hill went on a 14-6 run midway through the quarter to build their lead.
The Lions entered halftime with a 13 point lead over the Valkyries.
Mars Hill opened the third quarter on a 7-0 run as Webb and Gabby Gianikos each converted on layups and Johnson hit another shot from beyond the arc. Converse would put together a strong quarter after the opening couple of minutes. The Valkyries scored 17 of the next 20 points to cut the Lions lead down to six. Mars Hill added three points before heading into the final quarter with a 10 point lead.
Converse's Nigeria Davis dropped nine of the Valkyries' 17 fourth quarter points on the Lions in the final ten minutes. Opening the final stanza on a 9-0 run, the Lions saw their lead cut to one point before two made free throws from Mariah Johnson put the Lions on the board. The Lions would hang on to the contest, going on an 11-8 run to secure their first victory.
Davis led Converse with 13 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double. Brianna James had eight points, six rebounds and two assists. Marshea Murray pulled down eight rebounds off of the bench for the Valkyries to go along with six points.
Sheena Johnson led the team with 16 points, going 6-15 from the field. She added four rebounds and three steals on the evening. Gianikos was also in double digits with 10 points, four assists and four steals. Tiffany Holloway added eight points from the off the bench.
The Lions improve to 1-1 on the season while Converse drops to 0-2.
Mars Hill's next contest will be the 2017-18 home opener in Stanford Arena when they take on Belmont Abbey. Contest is scheduled for Tuesday, November 14 at 8 p.m.
