Saturday, February 10, 2007

LADY SAINTS WIN SECOND CONSECUTIVE GAME
North Georgia stays in Peach Belt North Division race

Florence, SC – The North Georgia College & State University Lady Saints battled back from a first half defecit to claim a 69-61 Peach Belt Conference victory over Francis Marion University here Saturday afternoon.

After trailing 14-8 in the first 10 minutes of the contest, the Lady Saints turned up the defensive pressure and kept up their offensive onslaught to pull away from the homestanding Patriots.

Sophomore point guard Lindsey Kitchens hit the first of her four three-pointer over the final 9:39 to pull the Lady Saints to within 14-11. After a Francis Marion basket pushed the lead back to 16-11, North Georgia answered with another Kitchens three-pointer with 7:45 to go in the half to cut the lead to 16-14. They would tie the game with 6:38 remaining on a lay-up by sophomore Syretha Marble.

North Georgia took the lead for good with 4:35 remaining in the half when junior Megan Huffman stepped to the line and drained two free throws, giving the Lady Saints an 18-16 lead. The lead would grow, due in part to a pair of Kitchens three-pointers, to 24-16 with 2:33 to play in the half. Francis Marion would add a basket of their own to cut the lead to 24-18 with 1:48 remaining in the half, but North Georgia scored the final five points of the half to take a 29-18 lead at the half.

The Lady Saints would pick up where they left off at the beginning of the second half. Marble scored the first points of the half on a lay-up to take a 31-18 lead with 19:31 to go in the contest. She connected for two free throws with 18:40 to play, followed by a Huffman jumper with 17:40 to play to give the Lady Saints a 35-18 lead. Freshman Porsha White finished off the run with a short jumper to take a 37-18 lead with 17:09 remaining, finishing off a 21-2 run by North Georgia over a span of 9:39.

Francis Marion shot 41.1 (23-for-56) percent from the floor, but managed to only shot 15.4 (2-for-13) percent from behind the arc. They also struggled from the line, shooting just 48.1 (13-for-27) percent for the game.

Meanwhile, North Georgia shot 37.3 (22-for-59) percent from the floor and a blistering 47.4 (9-for-19) percent from behind the arc. They also shot 72.7 (16-for-22) percent from the free throw line.

Yasmean Dixon led Francis Marion (5-18, 2-10 PBC) with 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor and 7-of-12 free throw line. She added seven rebounds, while Kirby Marsh added 13 points and Shonelle Dixon 12 in the loss.

Kitchens led North Georgia with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting from behind the arc. White and Huffman each added 14, while Rachael Jolley added 10 points and seven rebounds in the victory.

North Georgia (11-12, 6-7 PBC) returns to action Saturday facing nationally-ranked Clayton State

-NGCSU-

Box Score

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