Mars Hill, N.C. ? The No. 24 Lenoir-Rhyne University Women?s Basketball Team (20-6, 13-3) won the 2009-10 South Atlantic Conference Regular Season Championship outright with its 84-80 win over Mars Hill College (5-21, 2-14) Saturday afternoon at?Stanford Arena.

L-R senior guard Brittany Mitch (McLean, Va.) led all scorers with a career-high 30 points as the Bears won their seventh straight game and claimed the top spot in the 2010 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament, which begins Wednesday.? Mitch connected on nine-of-12 field goal attempts and 10-of-11 free throw attempts.

Lenoir-Rhyne led by as many as 14 points (42-28) late in the first half but Mars Hill began to rally and eventually took the lead, 54-53, on a three-point play by Brittini Young (Ramseur, N.C.) with 13:44 remaining in the contest.?? Young finished with a team-high 29 points.

L-R pushed the lead back to 10 points at 70-60 at the 8:06 mark of the second half but Mars Hill closed the gap again and cut the margin to one (77-76 with 1:35 left) but the Bears made six straight free throws to ice the game.

Lenoir-Rhyne senior guard Jami Safrit (Hickory, N.C.) added 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists as the Bears defeated the Lady Lions for the 10th straight time.

Mars Hill?s Margaret Harvey (Greensboro, N.C.) added 20 points despite the loss.

L-R hosts eighth-seeded Brevard in the first round of the tournament on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Quarterfinal winners advance to the tournament semifinals, which will be held at Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory, N.C. on Saturday, with games at 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Sunday?s women?s championship will be at 4 p.m.

Tickets for quarterfinal games are $6.00 for adults, $3.00 for children, students and college students with ID.? Tickets for semifinal and championship rounds are $10 for adults and $5 for children, students and college students with ID.

The men?s and women?s winners of the tournament will earn automatic bids to the NCAA Division II playoffs.