BRISTOL, Tenn. (Dec. 17) – After surrendering a season-high 30 points in the fourth quarter, the Trojans suffered an 81-76 loss at King in Conference Carolinas play on Saturday afternoon.

With the loss, the University of Mount Olive women's basketball team falls to 6-5 overall behind a 3-2 mark in conference action after seeing its four-game winning streak snapped. Meanwhile, the Tornado end a four-game slide to improve to 3-9 this season with a 3-2 record in league play.

Freshman Laila Anderson scored a season-high 24 points on 10-of-19 from the field with six steals in 34 minutes off the bench. This marks her first 20-point performance at UMO while ranking second on the team with 9.6 points per game this season.

Junior Haleigh Crews also notched a season-high with 16 points on 5-of-12 shots with five rebounds in 29 minutes, while teammate Laila Harris finished with 12 points, six rebounds, two steals, and one block in 33 minutes. Senior Makayla Kimble and junior Reagan Hune each contributed 10 points on Saturday.

Mount Olive opened the first quarter with back-to-back layups to take an initial 4-0 advantage. The Tornado stormed back with a 10-2 run over a nearly three-minute stretch to establish a 10-6 lead while limiting the Trojans to just one shooting attempt over that span. King held a 17-14 advantage with 1:07 left in the quarter before Anderson converted consecutive shots to reclaim the lead 18-17. The Tornado tied the contest at 18-18 from the free-throw line to finish the first quarter. The game remained close throughout the second with the score knotted at 22-22 with 6:16 remaining before the break. Mount Olive tallied seven unanswered in the closing minutes of the quarter to take a 33-28 lead with 1:07 left. King made a layup in the final minute before halftime to trail 33-30.

In the third quarter, the Trojans mounted a 10-4 run on a perfect five-of-five shooting to stretch the lead to 43-34 with 7:42 remaining. The Tornado managed to close the gap to 48-44 with just over four minutes left in the third after converting six-of-six from the free-throw line. Over the final three-plus minutes, UMO made four-of-four from the field to hold a 59-51 advantage heading into the final quarter. With under eight minutes to play, Mount Olive was ahead 61-53 before King went on a 9-2 rally to trim the deficit to 63-62 with 5:46 left. Both sides traded points down the stretch with the game tied three times over the next four minutes. King grabbed the advantage on a jumper with 58 seconds left and closed out the game by making five-of-six from the line to earn an 81-76 comeback win.

UMO finished the game shooting 28-of-67 (41.8 percent) from the floor and converted 19-of-28 (67.9 percent) from the free-throw line. Meanwhile, King shot at a 36.2 clip (21-of-58) and made 36-of-43 (83.7) from the charity stripe. The Tornado finished with a significant 49-33 rebounding advantage, including 23 offensive boards that led to 22 second-chance points. Mount Olive totaled 52 points in the paint while scoring 28 points off turnovers.

Freshman Tori Smiley scored a team-high 24 points on 5-of-13 shots while making 14-of-16 from the free-throw line. She also added four rebounds and four steals in 27 minutes off the bench. Sophomore Alexa Gramann produced 18 points on 5-of-11 from the field with eight rebounds in 26 minutes, while freshman Jaelyn West tallied 11 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals in 21 minutes off the bench.

UMO returns to play on Monday, Dec. 19, when it hosts No. 15 Lenoir-Rhyne in non-conference play in Kornegay Arena at 2 p.m.