Wednesday, January 24, 2007

NORTH GEORGIA DROPS ROAD CONTEST IN PEACH BELT PLAY
Lady Saints get as close as one-point late in first half, Lander pulls away in second

Greenwood, SC – The North Georgia College & State University Lady Saints fell to Lander University 97-83 at Horne Arena in Peach Belt Conference action Wednesday night.

Much like the first time the two teams played, only 14 days ago, they traded baskets for the first 10 minutes of action. However, the change in the first half from 14 days ago, was that the Lady Saints were the team battling from behind for much of the final 10 minutes of the first half of action.

The Lady Bearcats controlled much of the first half, building leads of six points on two different occassions. On both of those occassions, North Georgia was able to battle back and trim the lead to one. Following two free throws by Tara Nyikavaranda with 2:01 remaining in the first half, Lander led 44-38.

North Georgia sophomore forward Syretha Marble darted through the lane, towards the basket. She converted the lay-up and the free throw to trim the lead to 44-41 with 1:48 remaining in the first half. Junior forward Kourtney Singleton hit an eight-footer on the Lady Saints next trip down the floor, trimming the lead to 44-43 with 1:23 to play. However, Lander went on a 5-0 run to end the first half and take a 49-43 lead into the locker room.

The Lady Saints trailed by six at the half, although they shot 6.6 percentage points higher than Lander in the first half. North Georgia shot 56.3 (18-for-32) percent from the floor, compared to Lander's shooting 46.9 (15-for-32) percent. The difference in the first half was the free throw line, where Lander connected on 15-of-19 compared to North Georgia's 6-of-9.

The second half saw the end of the run that was started by Lander at the close of the first half, finishing off a 9-0 run to take a 53-43 lead. The Lady Saints kept fighting their way back into the game, with Marble ending the run with a lay-up with 19:12 remaining in the contest - trimming the lead to 53-45. Junior guard Megan Huffman hit an eight-footer the next trip down the floor, trimming the lead to 53-47 with 18:45 remaining in the contest. Following an April McClendon jumper, sophomore guard Lindsey Kitchens drained a three-pointer to cut the lead to 55-50 with 18:10 remaining.

From there Lander went on a 20-6 run to take a 19-point lead, but the Lady Saints still did not rest. Kitchens buried another three-pointer with 11:44 remaining to trim the lead to 75-59, while Huffman converted two free throws the next trip down the floor to trim the lead to 75-61. The Lady Saints relied on heavy defensive pressure to convert a fast break lay-up by freshman center Porsha White, trimming the lead to 75-63 with 10:54 remaining in the contest.

The run continued for the Lady Saints as Rachel Jolley put back a missed shot to trim the lead to 75-65 with 9:13 to go in the contest. Following a three-pointer by Lander's Jasmine Collier extended the lead back to 13, 78-65, Marble answered for North Georgia with 8:29 remaining to trim the lead 78-67. Tiara Good halted the North Georgia run with a fastbreak lay-up, pushing the lead to 80-67.

But, once again, the Lady Saints still had fight left in them. White converted a lay-up to trim the lead back to 11 at 80-69 with 7:23 remaining. Following a three-point play by Lander, Marble slashed to the basket trimming the lead to 12, 83-71, with 5:55 remaining in the contest. Following another Lander basket that extended the lead to 14, Kitchens buried her third three-pointer of the game with just under five minutes to play, trimming the lead to 85-74. That is as close as the Lady Saints could get in the final five minutes.

Lander shot 47.3 (35-for-74) percent from the floor, and 41.2 (7-for-17) percent from behind the arc. They also shot 71.4 (20-for-28) percent from the free throw line.

North Georgia shot 54.7 (35-for-64) percent from the floor, and 38.5 (5-for-13) percent from behind the arc. They also shot 47.1 (8-for-17) percent from the free throw line.

Good led Lander (10-8, 4-3 PBC) with a game-high 26 points, pacing five Lady Bearcats in double figures. Tierra Kirkland added 21 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, while McClendon added 15, Stephanie Ponds 13 and Bryony Crouch 11.

Marble led the Lady Saints with 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the floor. Huffman added 15 points and seven assists, while White added 14 and Kitchens 11. Jolley grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

North Georgia (8-10, 3-5 PBC), two games behind the North Division leaders, returns to action Saturday, traveling to Columbus State University. Tip-off is set for 2 pm.

-NGCSU-

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