Mars Hill, N.C. - The Lenoir-Rhyne Women's Basketball Team (12-4, 7-1) rallied from a 12-point, first-half deficit to beat Mars Hill (3-13, 0-8), 70-61, Saturday afternoon at Stanford Arena in South Atlantic Conference action.

Sophomore guard Jazmine Charles (Lexington, N.C.) finished with a team-high 16 points while sophomore guard Jenni Gust (Colfax, Wis.) tied a personal high with 15 points off the bench as L-R kept pace with Anderson (13-5, 7-1) atop the SAC standings.

Mars Hill's Ansley Ricker (Greeneville, Tenn.) led all scorers with 20 points but the Lions could not hold a 12-point lead in the first half.

The Lions jumped out to a 30-18 advantage with just under three minutes left before intermission and entered break with a 34-27 lead.

However, L-R began to close the gap in the second half and finally took the lead for good at 55-53 on a three-pointer by freshman guard Jordan Hiatt (Mount Airy, N.C.) with 7:02 left in the contest.

The Bears, who held a 46-30 advantage on the boards, increased their margin to as many as 10 points late in the second half en route to the win.

Senior guard Caroline Laughter (Hickory, N.C.) added 12 points and three rebounds to go along with a team-high five assists for Lenoir-Rhyne in the victory as well.

Armeka Booker (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) chipped in with 15 points for the Lions, who lost their eighth straight contest and continue to search for their first league win of the year.

In the next round of South Atlantic Conference games on Wednesday beginning at 6:00 p.m., Lenoir-Rhyne hosts Anderson in a league showdown?while Mars Hill remains at home to face Newberry.