Mount Olive women fall to Young Harris

With the loss, the Trojans drop their fifth straight game to fall to 3-8 overall with a 1-2 record in league play. It marked the first meeting between the sides since Young Harris joined the Conference Carolinas this season. Meanwhile, the Mountain Lions improve to 6-9 this season with a 2-3 mark in conference action.

Sophomore Laila Anderson finished with a team-high 13 points on 5-of-14 shots with five rebounds, two assists, and three steals in 39 minutes of action. Fellow sophomore Jada Priebe contributed eight points, four rebounds, three assists, and one steal in 36 minutes. Junior Kamania Griffin tallied six points, six rebounds, three assists, and four steals in 36 minutes.

The Trojans built an early 7-4 lead in the opening three minutes of the game after knocking down three-of-five from the field. The Mountain Lions responded with three consecutive points to tie the contest before both sides went scoreless for nearly three minutes. Mount Olive scored six of the final nine points of the first quarter to take a 13-10 advantage. Young Harris tallied seven unanswered points to begin the second quarter before the Trojans made a pair at the free-throw line, 17-15. The Mountain Lions mounted a 13-2 run over the next eight minutes to claim a 30-17 lead at the break.

Young Harris stretched the lead to 40-19 with a 10-2 run to start the third quarter before Anderson hit back-to-back jumpers to trim the deficit. The teams exchanged points over the final three-plus minutes with the Mountain Lions maintaining a 50-32 lead. Mount Olive made a pair of jumpers in the initial minutes of the fourth before Young Harris built a 21-point lead with a 57-36 advantage. UMO scored nine of the final 14 points of the contest to fall by a 62-45 margin.

The Trojans finished the game shooting 30.4 percent (17-of-56) from the floor and converted 8-of-11 (72.7 percent) from the free-throw line. Meanwhile, the Mountain Lions shot at a 50.0 clip (25-of-50) from the field and made 8-of-13 (61.5 percent) from the charity stripe. Young Harris claimed a significant 38-26 advantage in rebounding with 22 points in the paint, while Mount Olive totaled 17 points off 23 forced turnovers.

Junior Taylor Gardner scored a game-high 17 points on seven-of-nine shooting with three rebounds and five assists in 29 minutes. Senior Crystal Corley finished with 16 points on 6-of-10 attempts with six rebounds, four assists, and two steals in 19 minutes off the bench.