Box Score Andrea Jones led four players in double figures with 18 points and Alyssa Luebs notched a double-double with 11 points and a career-high 16 rebounds as Mount Olive extended its winning streak to eight with a 98-60 victory over St. Andrews in Conference Carolinas women's basketball Wednesday at Kornegay Arena. The win keeps the Trojans unbeaten in conference play and in sole possession atop the East Division.
St. Andrews was led by Brittany Roberts, who scored 22 of her career-high 28 points in the second half.
Jones hit three 3-pointers in the first five minutes of the game and her transition layup off of Tamara Nesmith's outlet pass gave Mount Olive (12-3 overall, 6-0 Conference Carolinas) a 26-9 lead with 10:29 left in the first half. Baskets by Nesmith and Ty Wallace extended the Trojans' lead to 32-11 with 7:52 remaining and the margin never fell below 20 the remainder of the half.
St. Andrews (0-13, 0-6) used Benee' Norton's three-pointer and a pair of free throws by Roberts to pull within 8-5 two minutes into the contest. Mount Olive answered with a 9-2 run for its first double-digit lead of the night.
Gabby Griffin helped spark Mount Olive to a 10-2 run to end the first half, including a defensive rebound after one of her shoes came off. Griffin had an offensive putback, a layup and an assist during the run as the Trojans went into the locker room with a 52-21 halftime lead.
Mount Olive scored the first eight points of the second half and Nesmith's fastbreak layup off of Jones' dish with 16:16 remaining pushed the Trojans' lead to the 40-point mark for the first time at 64-24. Roberts scored six straight St. Andrews points, but Mount Olive built the lead to 77-36 with 10:06 left as Matison Hall's ball fake led to a transition layup.
Kirstin Mobley's short jumper with 7:39 remaining gave Mount Olive its biggest lead at 86-42.
Nesmith finished with 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting, while Trojan freshman Ty Wallace had her first collegiate double figure game with 11 points. Gary and Webb shared game-high honors with six assists apiece. Mount Olive shot 52.4 percent (43-for-82) from the field.
Norton scored 10 points for St. Andrews, while Kimay Fulcher added nine points. Roberts was 8-for-14 from the field, including 4-for-8 from three-point range.
Mount Olive takes to the road Saturday for a battle of the two remaining unbeaten teams in Conference Carolinas play as the Trojans travel to Gaffney, S.C., to take on West Division leader Limestone. The game is a rematch of two noteworthy contests from last year, the semifinal round of the 2011 Conference Carolinas Women's Basketball Tournament and a regular season game that aired live on CBS Sports Network. Limestone won the nationally televised game, while Mount Olive won the conference tournament game. Saturday's tip-off is 5:30 p.m.