Wednesday, January 31, 2007

LADY SAINTS AVENGE EARLY SEASON LOSS
Huffman joins 1,000-point club in first half

Dahlonega, GA – North Georgia College & State University played their second consecutive home game in front of a sell-out crowd, the only difference, the Lady Saints were the team 'stealing' away the win in the final moments of the contest.

The Lady Saints avenged an early-season loss, just two weeks ago, on the road to USC Upstate by beating the Spartans 82-77 in Peach Belt Conference action Wednesday night.

Trailing by as many as seven points early-on, the Lady Saints used their poise to come from behind and capture their fourth Peach Belt Conference victory this season, with Rachael Jolley and Megan Huffman leading the way.

With the score tied at 69-69 with 4:42 remaining in the contest, USC Upstate took command - only for a short while - when Ebony Johnson connected on a six-footer to give the Spartans a 71-69 lead with 4:13 remaining. The Lady Saints would pull within a point when Huffman was fouled by Courtney Hawkins, and hit one-of-two free throws with 3:09 remaining to trim the lead to 71-70. They would tie the game up on the same trip when Jolley rebounded the second free throw by Huffman and dished it off to Syretha Marble, who in turn was fouled by Kianna Smith. She would hit one-of-two free throws and tie the game at 71-71 with 3:04 remaining.

USC Upstate would take the lead back with 2:39 remaining when Smith hit two free throws, giving the Spartans a 73-71 lead.

That is when the crowd got behind the Lady Saints, and the team responded when Jolley connected on a lay-up with 2:06 remaining to tie the game at 73-73. However, Danielle Edwards connected on two free throws with 1:39 remaining to give USC Upstate a 75-73 lead. That lead was short-lived, as Kourtney Singleton connected on two free throws to tie the game at 75-75 with 1:27 to play.

North Georgia would take the lead for good when sophomore point guard Lindsey Kitchens scored her first points of the game, a three-pointer with 52 seconds remaining to give the Lady Saints a 78-75 lead. After a lay-up by Bradley with 38 seconds remaining, trimmed the lead to 78-77, the Lady Saints got two free throws from Singleton to push the lead to 80-77 with 20 seconds to go in the contest.

The contest was sealed when Marble stole a pass from Bradley and was immediately fouled. She hit both free throws with just nine seconds to go to give North Georgia an 82-77 lead and send the crowd into a frenzy.

Although the game was won in the finals seconds, a bit of history was made in the first half when Huffman connected on a three-pointer from the top of the key with 8:39 remaining in the opening half. With the basket, she became the 13th member to reach the 1,000-point plateau in Lady Saints' history.

North Georgia shot 39.3 (24-for-61) percent from the floor and 36.4 (8-for-22) from behind the arc. They also shot 72.2 (26-for-36) percent from the free throw line.

USC Upstate shot 42.6 (26-for-61) percent from the floor and 35.3 (6-for-17) percent from behind the arc. They also shot 82.6 (19-for-23) percent from the free throw line.

Smith led USC Upstate (10-10, 5-4 PBC) with 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the floor. Edwards chipped in 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Johnson chipped in 13 points.

Jolley led North Georgia with 26 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the floor, Huffman added 23 and Marble 14 points in the victory. Jolley also grabbed 15 rebounds, while Marble grabbed 10. Kitchens dished out eight assists in the victory.

North Georgia (9-11, 4-6 PBC) returns to action Saturday on the road against Georgia College & State University.

-NGCSU-

Box Score

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