Saturday, January 20, 2007

LADY SAINTS DROP THRILLER AT HOMECOMING
Last second shot falls short for Lady Saints

Dahlonega, GA – North Georgia College & State University fell short in their bid at winning homecoming, falling 72-70 to visiting Augusta State University at Memorial Hall Saturday afternoon, in front of a overflow crowd of 2,750.

The Lady Saints found themselves down by as many as 10 points in the second half to a pesky Augusta State squad, but chipped away in the final 4:25 to have a chance to win the basketball game.

With the Lady Jaguars up 66-58, Porsha White sank two free throws to get the game to within six at 66-60 with 4:25 remaining the contest. The two teams went scoreless over the next 51 seconds until Augusta State's Brittany Jarrad connected on a free throw to push the lead to 67-60 with 3:34 to play. Sophomore point guard Lindsey Kitchens answered for North Georgia on their next possession, drilling a three-pointer to trim the lead to 67-63 with 3:18 to go in the game.

White struck again for the Lady Saints as she hit a lay-up of an inside pass from Kourtney Singleton, trimming the lead to 67-65 with 2:29 to play. Deo Ngulela would give Augusta State a four-point advantage (69-65) again with 1:30 remaining, sinking two free throws. Syretha Marble would put the Lady Saints back into contention with a driving lay-up, cutting the lead to 69-67 with 1:16 to play. Augusta State's Sherika Parker hit two free throws to extend the lead to 71-67 with just 52 seconds to play, and sent the Augusta State crowd over the edge.

However, the Lady Saints would not go away, as Marble converted a three-point play the hard way. She drove to the basket and was fouled by Jarrard. She converted the lay-up and free throw to trim the lead to 71-70 with 21 seconds to play. After a steal by Singleton, the Lady Saints had a chance but missed a jump shot with just four seconds to play forcing a foul. Shirrell Ford connected on the back end of a two-shot foul to push the lead to two with just four seconds remaining.

The Lady Saints last chance hit the backboard falling into their hands, but subsequently could not get the shot off as time expired.

North Georgia shot 38.7 (24-for-62) percent from the floor, and 30 (6-for-20) percent from behind the arc. They also shot 64 (16-for-25) percent from the free throw line.

Meanwhile, Augusta State shot 38 (27-for-71) percent from the floor, and 38.5 (5-for-13) percent from behind the arc. They also shot 68.4 (13-for-19) percent from the free throw line.

Marble led the Lady Saints with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Megan Huffman added 15 points and seven rebounds. Kitchens added 14 points, while White chipped in with 12.

Augusta State (10-6, 2-4 PBC) was led by Parker with 15 points and eight rebounds, while Ngulela added 11. Jarrad and Nicole Mealing added 10 each.

North Georgia (8-9, 3-4 PBC) travels to Greenwood to face Lander University on Wednesday at 5:30 pm.

-NGCSU-

Box Score

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