University of Mount Olive fell to King University 64-61 Tuesday night in Kornegay Arena for Conference Carolinas women's basketball in Mount Olive, N.C. Arieal Johnson compiled her third straight double-double in as many games for the Trojans.
Mount Olive (8-8 Overall, 6-4 Conference Carolinas) surrendered the game's first points as King (10-6, 9-1) started the game on a six point run after back-to-back three-pointers. The Trojans were able to stop the bleeding momentarily after two straight buckets. The Tornado, however proved to be too much as they outscored Mount Olive 21-12 in the opening quarter.
The second quarter saw a different Trojan team as the offense exploded midway through the quarter. After trailing 27-17 with 5:44 remaining before the half, Jada Bacchus started the Mount Olive rally. Bacchus went on to score two more points as part of a 16 point run that allowed the Trojans to take their first lead of the game 33-27 with under a minute before halftime.
King put a stop to the run and scored five unanswered points but did not get the final shot of the half as Ni'Ya Styles scored a buzzer beater to end the first half and Mount Olive led 35-32.
In the third quarter, King utilized an 11-0 run with 7:48 to retake the lead 43-37. Mount Olive did not allow the lead to stay as Styles' layup with 32 seconds to go tied the game up at 49 going into the final quarter.
The Trojans trailed for a majority of the fourth quarter, until a late 8-0 run put Mount Olive back up 61-59 with 2:35 left to play. King retied the game up 35 second later after an Arnelle Collins layup. After a Trojan foul, Amy Van Deventer hit both of her free throws to put King back in the lead. Another free-throw made it a three point game with four seconds to go, but a last second three-pointer did not find the bottom of the net and Mount Olive fell at the final horn 64-61.
Johnson contributed 16 points and 16 rebounds for the Trojans in her double-double performance. Daria Simmons had 11 points and Styles added 10 points to round out the double digit scorers for Mount Olive. Felicity Havens also added 10 boards and six points off the bench.
Mount Olive will go on the road Saturday January 23 to take on Southern Wesleyan University in Central, S.C. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.