GREENWOOD, S.C. (Dec. 19) – In their final contest ahead of the holiday break, the Trojans battled in an 80-57 loss at Lander on Thursday afternoon in non-conference action at the Finis Horne Arena.
With the loss, the University of Mount Olive women's basketball team drops to 1-10 overall behind a 0-6 record on the road this season. It marked just the second-ever meeting between the sides following an 11-year gap since their last matchup in 2013. Meanwhile, Lander improves to 6-2 this year and holds a 3-0 mark against Conference Carolinas opponents.
Freshman
Janna Tupuola scored a season-high 13 points on five-of-eight shooting with three rebounds and one steal in 26 minutes off the bench. Senior
Alexis Durham also contributed 13 points while adding three rebounds, two assists, one steal in 34 minutes on the court. Sophomore
Anna Miller produced nine points, four rebounds, and one steal in 16 minutes. Junior
Jada Priebe finished with a team-high 10 rebounds while totaling five points, two assists, one block, and one steal in 33 minutes.
The Bearcats surged ahead by an 11-0 margin in the opening five minutes of the first quarter as the Trojans missed their initial eight shots of the game. Durham halted the drought at the 4:18 mark with a three-pointer before Lander tallied four of the final six points to hold a 15-5 advantage at the end of the quarter. The Bearcats maintained a double-digit lead for half of the second quarter before Mount Olive stormed back with an 11-4 run to cut the deficit to 29-25. Lander made a layup in the final 15 seconds to take a 31-25 edge into halftime.
In the third quarter, the Bearcats stretch the lead to 42-29 after knocking down four-of-six shots in three-plus minutes. The sides traded baskets a majority of the quarter before Lander scored four unanswered points in the final minute to hold a 56-40 advantage. Tupuola hit a three-pointer to begin the fourth and midway through the quarter the Trojans managed to close the gap to 62-50 with 5:42 remaining. Ultimately, the Bearcats offense pushed forward and finished the contest by making 10-of-12 from the free-throw line to seal an 80-57 win.
UMO shot at a 31.7 clip (19-of-60) from the floor while going 15-of-23 (65.2 percent) from the free-throw line. Meanwhile, Lander finished the game shooting 43.1 percent (28-of-65) and converted 18-of-24 (75.0 percent) from the charity stripe. The Bearcats held a 48-32 rebounding advantage with 40 points in the paint, while the Trojans scored 19 points off 20 turnovers forced.
Lander sophomore Trinity Thomas registered a game-high 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting with five rebounds, two assists, three steals, and one block in 31 minutes. Fellow sophomore Courtney Nesbitt posted a double-double with 20 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, four steals, and one block in 30 minutes.
The Trojans will be idle for over a week for the holiday break before returning to the court for an exhibition game at North Carolina A&T with tip-off set for 5 p.m.
