Junior Alyssa Luebs scored a season-high 17 points and teammate Jasmine McDonald recorded a double-double, but a late Mount Olive rally came up short against Virginia Union, 79-71, in a non-conference women's basketball game Saturday afternoon at Kornegay Arena.

The visiting Panthers closed the first half on a 13-0 run to take a 38-26 lead into the locker room at intermission. The lead grew to as much as 18 before the Trojans mounted a comeback.

McDonald, who grabbed a season-high 14 points, rebounded her own missed shot and scored, then Luebs' steal led to a lay-up for Joneiqua Gary trimming the lead to 73-65 with 2:13 remaining. A lay-up by McDonald cut the lead to five moments later. The Trojans got no further, however, as Virginia Union's Dashia Chandler converted four free throws down the stretch to keep Mount Olive at bay.

Luebs dominated the paint early in the contest, she scored 11 points as the Trojans raced out to a 14-6 advantage. Her total was one point shy of her career best. She also kept several possessions alive with six offensive rebounds. McDonald, accounted for nine of the Trojans' 26 offensive boards. She finished with 14 total rebounds, a season high and one shy of her career high.

McDonald added five assists, but like most of her teammates, had a difficult time finding a shooting touch much of the contest. Mount Olive shot just 33 percent from the field in the first half. Mount Olive rebounded to shoot 42 percent after intermission, but the Trojans struggled throughout from three-point range, hitting just 5-of-23 attempts from long range.

Andrea Jones added 11 points and five rebounds for Mount Olive and Gary came off the bench to tally 10 points and five assists. It marked the second consecutive game in double figures for Gary. Tamara Nesmith chipped in with eight points, seven rebounds and four assists.

The Panthers were led by Vicki Collier with 22 points, including 16 in the second half. She added nine rebounds and three assists. Dashia Chandler added 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Ashle Freeman and Danielle Ferguson contributed 13 and 10 points respectively, coming off the bench. Freeman added seven steals.

The Trojans return to action Monday evening at Fayetteville State beginning at 5:30 p.m. The women's next home game will be Friday, December 30 against Apprentice at Kornegay Arena.