Lions' late push falls short versus Lees-McRae

BANNER ELK, N.C. - The Mars Hill women's basketball team (0-3) was defeated by a score of 82-70 in non-conference action versus Lees-McRae (2-2) Wednesday evening.

The Lions ended the first 10 minutes of play up 18-16 following a solid defensive performance.  After going down 3-0, the Lions reeled off nine straight points with De'Ja Marshall recording five points while Selby Baughman added four.  The Mars Hill lead was built to 14-7 before Lees-McRae went on a 9-2 run  to tie the game at 16 with less than a minute to play.  Alexis Pardue's lone basket of the quarter gave the Lions the two-point advantage heading into the second.

Tied at 22 with 7:41 left in the half, the Bobcats scored five straight points, all from Brianna Wright.  Battling back and forth down the stretch, the game was tied at 33 after Tatum Boggs' fifth point of the half.  At the buzzer, a made three-pointer from Tiana Shuff gave the Bobcats the 36-33 edge after 20 minutes of play.

Lees-McRae outscored Mars Hill 27-17 in the third quarter, hitting 57 percent of their shots.  Makayla Smith led the Bobcats with eight points while Destiny Johnson added six points and collected five rebounds.

With 6:19 left in the game, Lees-McRae led by 20 points.  The Lions pulled within seven, going on an 18-5 run that saw the Bobcats hold the 77-70 lead with 1:22 remaining.  Following a Lees-McRae timeout, the Bobcats responded with a 5-0 run to end the game.

Shuff led all players with 20 points while Johnson added 14 and collected seven rebounds.  Smith ended the contest with 15 points.

Marshall led the Lions for the third straight contest with 19 points and pulling down 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.  Boggs netted 16 points followed by Pardue's eight.

The Lions return to action on Saturday, November 16 in exhibition action versus USC Upstate.  Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.