Trojans Fall To King 67-57 In Conference Carolinas Women's Basketball

Trojans Fall To King 67-57 In Conference Carolinas Women's Basketball

A 12-0 run in the opening minutes of the second half broke open a three-point game as Mount Olive fell to King 67-57 in Conference Carolinas women's basketball Wednesday at Kornegay Arena. Joneiqua Gary led Mount Olive with a game-high 17 points, while Katie Paschal went 7-for-7 from the line for all of the Trojans' free throw attempts and added 16 points.

Mount Olive (7-5 overall, 2-2 Conference Carolinas) cut an 11-point deficit down to five at halftime and Jasmine McDonald's steal after a King defensive rebound led to Ty Wallace's 10-foot baseline jumper less than a minute into the second half to pull the Trojans within 31-28. King's Chelsea Bowling triggered the Tornado's scoring run with offensive rebounds on back-to-back possessions, leading to her own off-balanced layup and Stephanie Brantley's three-pointer.

Jalan Harper scored the next five points for King (9-3, 3-1) and Brittany Stringer's layup with 15:13 remaining capped the run and gave the Tornado their biggest lead at 43-28. Mount Olive got as close as 53-47 with 6:32 left after Gary and McDonald combined for six unanswered points. But King came back with a 9-0 run of its own as Sydney Harris' three-point play with 3:33 remaining gave the Tornado a 62-47 lead. The margin stayed in double digits the remainder of the contest.

Mount Olive trailed 22-11 midway through the first half before the Trojans' full court press helped cut the margin to three. Joneiqua Gary made a steal in front of the baseline for an uncontested and Katie Paschal sandwiched a 10-2 run with a three-point play and a three-pointer to pull the Trojans within 24-21 with 4:33 left before halftime.

King extended its lead to nine as Alley Sprouse hit a pair of free throws and added a layup with 3:14 left after a Harris steal. Mount Olive held the Tornado without a field goal for the remainder of the half and Gary's three-pointer from the left wing with 27 seconds left pulled the Trojans within 31-26 at the break.

McDonald finished with 12 points and nine rebounds for Mount Olive, while Wallace added eight points and eight rebounds. No other Trojan besides Paschal went to the free throw line.

King's bench accounted for 41 points, led by Harris with 14 points and Harper and Sprouse with 10 points apiece. Bowling was the lone Tornado starter in double figures, scoring 10 of her 13 points in the first half. King substituted five players at a time throughout the game.

Mount Olive returns to action Saturday as the Trojans travel to Tigerville, S.C., to take on North Greenville in a Conference Carolinas match-up. Tip-off is 2 p.m.