Wednesday, January 10, 2007

LADY SAINTS STEAL VICTORY FROM LANDER
Back-to-back steals by Singleton enables Lady Saints to get victory

Dahlonega, GA – North Georgia College & State University used defensive pressure to seal an 85-83 victory over Lander University in Peach Belt Conference action at Memorial Hall Wednesday night.

Junior forward Kourtney Singleton came up with two of the best defensive possessions of the season for the Lady Saints and head coach Buffie Burson.

With the score tied at 83-83, and following a timeout, Singleton stole the inbounds pass and was fouled by Tierra Kirkland.  She would hit the back end of the two shot foul to give the Lady Saints an 84-83 lead with just 27 seconds remaining in the game.

Following a slew of timeouts, the Lady Bearcats had a chance to take the lead on their next possession.  However, Singleton struck again, stealing the ball from Bryony Crouch with just six seconds left on the clock.  Following the steal, junior guard Megan Huffman converted on the back end of her free throw for an 85-83 lead.  The Lady Bearcats could not get a shot off as the North Georgia defense suffocated Lander in the backcourt forcing the turnover as time expired for the victory.

The steals were set up by a 9-0 run that gave North Georgia a 74-72 lead with just 4:48 remaining in the game.  Trailing 72-65 with 7:27 remaining, freshman forward Porsha White connected on a lay-up with 7:16 left in the contest to trim the lead to 72-67.  Huffman would add more points to the scoreboard for North Georgia on their next trip down the floor, hitting a lay-up with 6:26 to cut the lead to 72-69.

Sophomore forward Syretha Marble trimmed the lead to 72-71 with 5:26 remaining, and the Lady Saints took a 74-72 lead with 4:48 to go on a three-pointer by sophomore guard Lindsey Kitchens. 

North Georgia would hold the lead until just 48 seconds remained on the clock when Kirkland hit a lay-up to tie the game at 83-83, setting the stage for Singleton.

North Georgia shot 47.8 (32-for-67) percent from the floor, and 23.5 (4-17) percent from behind the arc.  They also shot 77.3 (17-for-22) from the free throw line.

Meanwhile, Lander shot 48.4 (31-for-64) percent from the floor and 40 (8-for-20) percent from behind the arc.  They also shot 72.2 (13-for-18) percent from the free throw line.

Lander (6-7, 1-2 PBC) was led by Tiara Good with 32 points, while Stephanie Ponds added 19 points and eight blocked shots.  Kirkland added 10 points in the loss.

Marble led North Georgia with 27 points and nine rebounds, while Huffman added 25 and White added 12 in the victory.

North Georgia (6-7, 1-2 PBC) returns to action Saturday against Georgia Southwestern.  Tip-off is set for 2 pm at Memorial Hall.

-NGCSU-

Box Score

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