HICKORY, N.C. (Nov. 15) – After being held scoreless in the fourth quarter, the University of Mount Olive women's basketball team suffered a 60-42 loss at Lenior-Rhyne in non-conference play on Wednesday night.
With the loss, the Trojans fall to 0-2 this season after playing a pair of contests on the road to begin the campaign. Lenior-Rhyne has now won the last four meetings in the series dating back to 1992. Meanwhile, the Bears improve to 2-1 overall after being positioned fifth in the preseason South Atlantic Conference (SAC) poll.
Senior
Reagan Hune finished with a team-high 11 points on four-of-seven attempts with three rebounds, two assists, and three steals over 38 minutes. Junior transfer
Kamania Griffin delivered nine points, two rebounds, and three steals in 26 minutes. Senior
Asia Smith contributed eight points, seven rebounds, two assists, one steal, and three blocks in 23 minutes.
Sophomore
Jada Priebe also tallied eight points and four rebounds, while junior
Tiandria Tucker pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.
Mount Olive opened the contest by shooting four-of-six from the field to take an early 10-4 advantage in the first quarter before the Bears countered with six unanswered points. With 3:19 left, the Trojans went on a 6-0 run, but Lenoir-Rhyne closed out the quarter with a pair of shots at the free-throw line, 16-12. The Bears hit a three-pointer to start the second quarter before Hune scored four straight points to stretch the lead to 20-15 with 7:21 remaining. LR grabbed the lead 25-23 behind a 10-3 rally before Priebe hit a jumper to tie the game at 25-25.
In the third quarter, Hune and Smith combined for eight points in the opening minutes to take a 33-25 advantage. Lenoir-Rhyne responded with a 12-0 run and forced six turnovers to regain the lead 37-33 with 3:51 left. Over the final three-plus minutes, both sides exchanged points with the Bears holding a 45-42 lead heading into the final quarter. After the opening three minutes were scoreless from both teams, LR closed the game with a 15-0 run while UMO shot 0-of-17 from the floor in a 60-42 loss.
The Trojans finished the game shooting 31.6 percent (18-of-57) from the floor and converted just 2-of-13 from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Bears shot at a 45.8 clip (22-of-48) from the field and made 11-of-14 (78.6 percent) from the charity stripe. Mount Olive claimed a slight 35-33 rebounding advantage with 24 points in the paint. Lenoir-Rhyne tallied 26 points off 24 turnovers forced.
Senior Emily Harman finished with a game-high 17 points on six-of-eight shooting with four rebounds, four assists, and six steals in 35 minutes. Graduate student Jalen Gathers totaled 13 points, one rebound, two assists, and two steals, while senior Blaikley Crooks contributed eight points in the win.
Mount Olive returns to the court on Saturday, Nov. 18, when it hosts Virginia Union on Homecoming Weekend at Kornegay Arena, starting at 11:00 a.m.
