Saturday, December 2, 2006

LAST-SECOND VICTORY FOR LADY SAINTS
Lady Saints battle back from early deficit to claim victory

Dahlonega, GA – North Georgia College & State University head coach Buffie Burson called a timeout with 12 seconds to play to set up a play that proved to be the winning basket against Georgia College & State University.

Burson called for a one-on-one situation with Kourtney Singleton against the Lady Bobcats' Emily Bixler. Singleton took the ball to the left then spun back to the middle, before spinning back to the left and hitting an off-balance jumper with just 2.6 seconds to play.

The basket decided the game, giving the Lady Saints a 73-71 non-conference victory over Georgia College & State University at Memorial Hall on Saturday afternoon.

The final eight minutes proved to be a back-and-forth contest as each team traded jabs with each other, before the Lady Saints came out on top.

Lindsey Kitchens hit her first basket of the game, a three-pointer with 8:28 remaining to give North Georgia a 58-57 lead, a lead they held until the final seconds The lead stayed at one until Megan Huffman connected on two free throws with 7:48 remaining to give North Georgia a 60-57 lead. Singleton finished off the 6-0 run with a lay-up with 7:24 remaining that pushed the lead to 62-57.

The Lady Bobcats answered when Marquita Driskell connected on two free throws to trim the lead to three at 62-59 with 7:07 remaining. The lead stayed at three until Syretha Marble hit a lay-up with 6:50 remaining to push the lead back to five at 64-59.

Driskell struck again with 5:22 to play when she hit a lay-up to cut the lead to three at 64-61, before she stole an errant pass and connected on another lay-up with 4:54 to play to trim the lead to one at 64-63.

The Lady Saints had an answer, and it was the reigning Peach Belt Conference Freshman of the Year Marble who had the answer. She connected on a three-pointer with 4:40 remaining to give the Lady Saints a 67-63 lead.

The lead would stay that way for the next two minutes, until Lindsey Smith connected on two free throws for GCSU to trim the lead to 67-65. Marble, however, provided the answer for the Lady Saints as she knocked down two frees after being fouled by Driskell. The two free throws gave North Georgia a 69-65 victory with 2:22 to play.

Ashley Williams hit a lay-up with 2:06 remaining to trim the lead to two at 69-67, before Driskell tied the game at 69-69 with 1:06 to play.

Following a lay-up by Singleton to give North Georgia a 71-69 lead, Marble blocked a three-pointer by Williams to preserve the lead. Driskell, however, tied the game back up, this time at 71-71 with just 14 seconds remaining to set the stage for Singleton.

I just thought it was a huge win with them being undefeated and having the transfer from Georgia who is averaging 20 points per game," said Burson. "We needed that win, that was a tough team and to get it against a tough team is even more important. Hopefully that will give us a boost from now on. I am so proud of our players for stepping up when we needed them to. Even though it was a non-conference game, it was still important to beat a conference opponent."

North Georgia ended the night shooting 38 (27-for-71) percent from the floor, and 29.4 (5-for-17) percent from behind the arc. They also shot 63.6 (14-for-22) percent from the free throw line.

Meanwhile, Georgia College & State University shot 46.8 (29-for-62) percent from the floor, and just 23.1 (3-for-13) percent from behind the arc. The Lady Bobcats shot just 50 (10-for-20) percent from the free throw line.

Driskell led Georgia College & State University (6-1) with 19 points and eight rebounds, while Lindsey Smith added 16 points and seven rebounds.

Porsha White led North Georgia with 17 points, while Singleton poured in 16 points - 14 in the second half - and a game-high 16 rebounds. Marble, who was scoreless in the first half, scored 14 points and grabbed five rebounds, while Huffman added 11 points in the victory. Kitchens added seven assists in the victory.

North Georgia (4-4) will be off until two weeks from today, when they take on the University of the Cumberlands on December 16. The game is set for 2 pm at Memorial Hall.

 

-NGCSU-

Box Score

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