STAUNTON, Va. – The Mary Baldwin University women's basketball team was stifled by Averett, 51-41, in the PAC on Wednesday night.

The loss stopped a four-game winning streak and moves the Fighting Squirrels to 9-7 on the year and 4-4 in league play. Meanwhile, the Cougars improve to 9-6 overall and pull even at 3-3 in conference action.

Hannah Varner led the team with 14 points to go with seven rebounds, three assists and a steal in the start. She was 5-of-8 from the floor and hit all three of her free throws.

Cauy Duboise picked up 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench, while Nicole mallon also finished with seven rebounds, a pair of blocks and two steals in 18 minutes on the court.

For the visitors, Camryn Lunsford finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, while Genesis Weiters and Brooke Carthon each tallied 10 rebounds.

The two teams alternated shots to start the game before the Cougars pulled out to an 11-5 advantage with 2:36 left in the period. The Fighting Squirrels scored the last six points of the quarter to tie the game on a jumper by Codie Heilig with 40 seconds left. The teams finished the period still tied at 11-11.

Averett used a strong second quarter to pull ahead, outscoring MBU 21-6 in the period. Seven different players recorded points for the Cougars and held the Fighting Squirrels to just two field goals as they shot 12.5 percent from the field. A buzzer beater from Courtney Scott put AU ahead 32-17 at the break.

A low-scoring third quarter opened the second half as this time the Cougars were held to just three points on a jumper by Lunsford and a Carthon free throw. For the Fighting Squirrels, Duboise recorded five points, including a three pointer which was the first of the game for MBU, breaking a streak of 12-straight misses. MBU his 4-of-6 shots from the charity stripe to cut the deficit to nine points heading into the fourth.

The Fighting Squirrels worked the deficit down to seven points (40-33) with 7:06 left on the clock and took a timeout. After the stoppage, the two sides traded free throws and then Duboise hit on two more to trim the lead to just five points. The lead stayed at fie points before free throws in the final minute pushed the lead to 10 as the Cougars held on for a 51-41 win.

MBU shot 24.1 percent (14-58) from the floor and just 2-22 from long range, while the Cougars finished at 27.7 percent (18-65) from the field. AU also outrebounded the Fighting Squirrels 57-43.

MBU returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 18, on the road against first-place William Peace with tip scheduled for 2 pm.

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