WILMINGTON, N.C. (Oct. 30) – Senior Reagan Hune and sophomore Laila Anderson combined for 41 points, as the University of Mount Olive women's basketball team registered a 51-47 victory over UNCW on Monday night in an exhibition contest.

With the win, the Trojans continue preparation for their official season-opening contest against St. Augustine's on Nov. 11. UMO features nine returners to the roster while also introducing nine newcomers to the team following an appearance in the quarterfinals of the Conference Carolinas Tournament. Meanwhile, the Seahawks will open regular season play next week under first-year head coach Nicole Woods, who played her collegiate career at Belmont Abbey.

Anderson finished with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-22 shooting with a trio of three-pointers in 37 minutes of action. Following a slow start to the contest, she scored 19 of the 29 second-half points for the Trojans to secure the win. Hune delivered a stellar performance with 19 points on 7-of-11 from the floor with seven rebounds, three assists, and four steals in 36 minutes.

Additionally, junior Tiandria Tucker tied a game-high with seven rebounds while scoring four points in 23 minutes. Fellow senior Asia Smith totaled four points, four rebounds, and three steals in 20 minutes.

Following nearly two scoreless minutes to begin the contest, the Seahawks tallied the opening points on a layup to take the early advantage. The Trojans answered with back-to-back fastbreak layups by Hune, but UNCW responded with a three-pointer and retained the lead late in the first quarter by an 11-10 margin with two-plus minutes remaining. Hune countered with a three-pointer to put UMO ahead 13-11 before the Seahawks tied the contest at 13-13 on a jumper to end the quarter. Anderson nailed an open shot from beyond the arc in the opening seconds of the quarter, but UNCW countered with four unanswered points to reclaim the lead, 17-16. Hune responded with three straight points for the Trojans to regain the advantage before the Seahawks scored five points over the next two minutes. The Trojans finished a competitive first half with a jumper by Hune to tie the game at the break, 22-22.

In the third quarter, the Trojans converted four-of-seven from the field, led by Anderson with six points, over the initial four-plus minutes to build a 30-24 lead. UNCW rallied to close the gap to 32-30 with 2:27 left in the third before Anderson led the Trojans by scoring seven of nine points to extend the advantage to 41-32. The Seahawks hit a jumper in the closing seconds to trail by seven points heading into the final 10 minutes. UNCW made the opening two points of the fourth before Anderson hit a massive three-pointer to stretch the lead to 44-36 with nearly eight minutes remaining. With UMO leading 50-40 with 3:32 left, the Seahawks totaled seven unanswered points and forced four turnovers to cut the deficit to 50-47 with 47 seconds to go. The Trojans forced a pair of turnovers in the final seconds and Anderson hit a free-throw to seal the 51-47 win.

The Trojans finished the game shooting 37.0 percent (20-of-54) from the floor and converted seven-of-eight from the free-throw line. Meanwhile, the Seahawks shot at a 34.8 clip (16-of-46) from the field and made 13-of-21 (61.9 percent) from the charity stripe. UMO forced 26 turnovers which resulted in 17 points, while the Seahawks tallied 18 points off the bench.

Redshirt freshman Taylor Henderson led the Seahawks with 14 points on 7-of-14 from the floor with four rebounds, two assists, and two steals in 28 minutes. Freshman Kylah Silver reached double-figures with 10 points while adding two rebounds, one assist, and two steals in 32 minutes. Senior Evan Millers recorded nine points, seven rebounds, and three steals in 38 minutes.

Mount Olive returns to the court on Saturday, Nov. 11, when it travels to face St. Augustine's in non-conference play at 2 p.m.