Monday, January 15, 2007

LADY SAINTS AVENGE EARLIER SEASON LOSS
Lady Saints 'pass' their way to top of North Division

Dahlonega, GA – North Georgia College & State University avenged an earlier season loss to UNC Pembroke, defeating the Braves 84-59 in Peach Belt Conference action and moving into first place in the North Division in the process.

The Lady Saints fell behind 8-3 early to UNC Pembroke, thanks to the hot outside shooting of Porcha Locklear. She hit three-pointers on two consecutive possessions, adding another on the fifth trip down the floor, before exiting with an apparant ankle injury.

North Georgia took over at that point, going on an 11-0 run over the next four minutes to take a 16-11 lead, a lead that would not be surrendered.

Megan Huffman connected on a lay-up to trim the lead to 11-7 with 14:52 remaining in the first half. Junior Rachael Jolley hit a 15-footer with 13:04 remaining in the half to trim the lead to 11-9. Only 43 seconds later, North Georgia would tie the game when junior forward Kourtney Singleton darted through two defenders for a lay-up. Huffman would hit the first of her three three-pointers to give North Georgia a 14-11 lead with 11:51 remaining in the half. They would finish off the run courtesy of another jumper by Jolley with 11:03 remaining, extending the lead to five.

They would an 8-0 run just two minutes later to extend the lead to 11 with 8:17 remaining in the half. The run started with sophomore Syretha Marble hitting a thre-pointer with 10:09 to play in the half, extending the lead 19-13. The lead would jump to nine when Lindsey Kitchens hit a thre-pointer with 8:41 remaining in the half, and would jump to 11 when Huffman hit a lay-up with 8:17 remaining.

North Georgia finished off the Braves in the second half, outscoring them 43-34 over the final 20 minutes for the victory.

North Georgia shot 51.7 (30-for-58) percent from the floor, including a blistering 62.1 (18-for-29) percent from the floor in the first half. The Lady Saints shot 40.9 (9-for-22) percent from behind the arc, while shooting 50 (5-for-10) percent in the first half. They also shot 75 (15-for-20) percent from the free throw line.

Meanwhile, UNC Pembroke shot 38.8 (19-for-49) percent from the floor, and 35 (7-for-20) percent from behind the arc. They also shot 66.7 (14-for-21) percent from the free throw line.

Locklear led UNC Pembroke (4-11, 2-3 PBC) with 12 points, while Natasha Stotler added 11 in the loss.

Huffman led North Georgia with 24 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Singleton added 15 points, while Jolley added 11 and Kitchens 10 points and seven assists. Marble finished with eight points and eight rebounds, while freshman Brooke Baker came off the bench to add eight points.

For the game, the Lady Saints dished out 21 assists.

North Georgia (8-7, 3-2 PBC) returns to action Wednesday night at USC Upstate at 5:30 pm.

-NGCSU-

Box Score

Return to Women's Basketball