Andrea Jones scored 11 of her 16 points in the second half, the last four coming in the final 90 seconds as East No. 2 seed Mount Olive rallied from a 13-point first-half deficit for a 63-58 victory over West No. 3 seed Erskine in the first round of the 2012 Conference Carolinas Women's Basketball Tournament Monday at Kornegay Arena. The Trojans survived 10 three-pointers by Erskine to advance to the semifinal round Thursday at West No. 1 seed Limestone.

The lead changed hands nine times in the second half before Jones' 17-foot jumper with 8:29 remaining gave Mount Olive (19-8) a 51-50 lead and put the Trojans ahead to stay. The Trojans extended the lead to five on Tamara Nesmith's basket and Jasmine McDonald's layup before Erskine (13-14) pulled within 55-52 on Jana Dixon's layup with 7:15 left to play.

Neither team would score over the next four minutes until Nesmith ended the drought with a putback with 3:34 remaining. Nesmith answered Rosa Powell's three-pointer from the top of the key with a backdoor layup from McDonald. Sha'Niqua Whitley came back with a three-pointer for Erskine to pull the Flying Fleet within 59-58 with 2:51 left. But those would be Erskine's final points of the game.

After both teams missed scoring opportunities, McDonald's offensive rebound kept Mount Olive's possession alive and Jones finished with a layup with 1:26 remaining to give the Trojans a 61-58 advantage. Mount Olive made a defensive stop on Erskine's next possession, but the Trojans turned the ball over with 36 seconds left.

Erskine would not get a shot attempt as Jones stole the ball with 23 seconds and was fouled as she brought the ball up. Jones sank both free throws to make it a two-possession game. Erskine missed its next two shots and McDonald pulled down the rebound with five seconds left to seal the win.

In the first half, the two teams traded scoring runs as Erskine built its biggest lead only for Mount Olive to climb back within a point. Powell hit three three-pointers and Porsha Morgan scored the final four points of a 20-6 run as the Flying Fleet built a 26-13 lead with 7:22 left in the first half. Erskine hit 4-of-6 three-point attempts during the run.

Mount Olive came back with 12 unanswered points to pull within 26-25 as McDonald started the run with a pair of free throws and converted a three-point play to finish the run with 2:37 left before halftime. Joneiqua Gary's three-pointer tied the game 30-30 with 58 seconds left, but Lindsey Weidenaar hit a three for Erskine with three seconds remaining to give the Flying Fleet a 33-30 halftime lead.

Nesmith's basket just over two minutes into the second half gave Mount Olive a 34-33 advantage, the Trojans first lead since scoring seven unanswered points after spotting Erskine a 6-0 lead. Alyssa Luebs' putback broke a 35-35 tie with 15:35 remaining as Mount Olive went on to build a 40-35 lead, the Trojans' first two-possession lead of the game.

Luebs, who finished with nine points, seven rebounds and four steals, picked up her fourth foul of the game with 12:44 left. Kirstin Mobley and answered an Erskine basket with a 10-foot jumper off the glass. After the Flying Fleet sandwiched three-pointers by Whitley and Morgan around a Jones three, Powell knocked down a three-pointer to put Erskine back on top 46-45 with 10:25 left.

Mount Olive regained the lead on a Mobley layup and after a steal and layup by Morgan for Erskine, Mobley hit another short jumper to give Mound Olive a 49-48 lead with 9:15 remaining. Erskine took its final lead of the night after Elizabeth Tatum sank a pair of free throws with 8:47 left. Jones' basket 18 seconds later would give the Trojans a lead they would never relinquish.

Nesmith finished with 14 points on 7-of-14 shooting to go with five rebounds and four steals. McDonald flirted with a triple-double despite not recording double figures in any category. She finished with eight points, nine rebounds and a career-high seven assists. Defensively, the Trojans forced 26 Erskine turnovers.

Morgan notched a double-double with 15 points and 10 assists to lead Erskine. Powell was 5-for-9 from beyond the arc and also finished with 15 points. Whitley added 11 points for the Flying Fleet. Morgan and Tatum had six rebounds apiece.

The win avenges Mount Olive's 68-55 loss to Erskine 10 days earlier during the 29th Annual MOC Basketball Church Night at Kornegay Arena. It also avenges a 58-56 loss to Erskine in the last meeting between the two teams in the quarterfinal round of the 2006 conference tournament.

Mount Olive advances to the semifinal round for the fourth time in five years and seeks its fourth trip to the championship game in the last five years, including last year. A win Thursday would also give the Trojans their fourth 20-win season in the last five years.

Limestone defeated West No. 5 seed Lees-McRae 87-64 Monday in a first round game. Limestone defeated Mount Olive 76-64 January 21 at Gaffney, S.C., in the two teams' only meeting this year. The Trojans defeated the Saints 78-70 in last year's semifinal round at Kornegay Arena.

Thursday's tip-off is 7 p.m. The winner advances to Saturday night's championship game against the winner of Thursday's other semifinal between West No. 2 North Greenville at East No. 1 Barton. The tournament champion earns an automatic bid to the Southeast Regional of the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championship.