Hickory, N.C. - The Lenoir-Rhyne University Women's Basketball Team (2-0) withstood a furious rally to defeat Limestone College (1-1), 77-73, Saturday on the final day of the L-R Invitational at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium.
In the first contest of the day, Mars Hill (1-1) defeated Pfeiffer (0-2) by an 85-53 score to claim its first victory of the season.
Lenoir-Rhyne 77, Limestone 73
L-R rolled to a 20-point advantage at 67-47 with just under nine minutes left in regulation and held off a late Limestone rally to win its second contest in as many games this year.
Limestone put together a 17-2 run to cut the margin to 69-64 on a three-pointer by Tia Williams (Dacula, Ga.) with 2:03 left but L-R sophomore guard Danielle Bongiorno (Wilmington, N.C.) hit five free throws in the final 30 seconds to keep the Bears ahead en route to the win.
Senior guard Cameron Sealey (Mount Holly, N.C.) and junior guard Whitley Culler (Mount Airy, N.C.) combined for 52 points to spearhead the Bears' attack.?
Sealey finished with 25 points and hit five three-pointers while Culler scored a career-high 27 points and pulled down 11 rebounds for her second straight double-double.? Culler also shot 12-of-15 from the field.
Stephanie Hayes (Hopkins, S.C.) scored a team-high 24 points and Kaileigh West (Jacksonville, Ill.) added 18 points and 15 rebounds in the losing effort.
Mars Hill 85, Pfeiffer 53
Four players scored in double figures for the Lions, led by Kristen Metcalf's (Black Mountain, N.C.) 16 points, as Mars Hill shot 60 percent (36-of-60) for the game in the victory.
Ansley Ricker (Greeneville, Tenn.) and Armeka Booker (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) added 14 points each for Mars Hill, who were even better after halftime as the Lions connected on 20-of-27 shots (74 percent) in the second half.
Mars Hill led 36-20 at halftime before extending its advantage to as much as 37 points (85-48) with just over two minutes left in the victory.
Pfeiffer was led by Shelley Reese (Brown Summit, N.C.) and Vontreece Hayes (Greensboro, N.C.) with 12 and 11 points each, respectively, despite the loss.
Box Score
Lenoir-Rhyne next competes in the Biltmore Farms/Mars Hill Classic on Friday against Francis Marion beginning at 8 p.m., in Mars Hill, N.C.
