GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Mary Baldwin University women's basketball team fell to Greensboro 90-78 in overtime at the Haynes Gymnasium in the first round of the USA South Tournament on Wednesday night.
With the result, the Fighting Squirrels' season comes to an end with a 12-13 overall mark. MBU advanced to the tournament as the No. 5 seed in the East and reached postseason play for a second straight year after going a decade without clinching a berth. Meanwhile, the No. 4 seed in the East, Greensboro, will travel to the No. 1 seed in the West, Berea, on Saturday, Feb. 22, for the quarterfinals of the league tournament.
Demet Saygili led the way for the Fighting Squirrels as she finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in 31 minutes. She was 7-of-15 from the floor and hit on four three-pointers.
Not far behind Saygili was Nicole Mallon who tallied 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field. She pulled down eight rebounds and added an assist.
Hannah Varner also scored in double figures as she finished with 11 points, three rebounds and a pair of assists. Varner was 4-of-7 from the field, including three triples in the loss.
For the Pride, Katie Lewis recorded 23 points and grabbed three rebounds. Ashley Free tallied 18 points and six rebounds, while Diajah Hickson finished with 15 points and a team-best eight boards.
MBU entered the fourth quarter holding on to an 18-point advantage before Nichelle Jeffries hit on a three in the opening seconds to make it a 15-point game. The Pride scored the game's next five points before a three from Natasha Porter gave the Fighting Squirrels a 70-54 lead with 5:48 left in regulation. GC scored the game's next nine points before a Mary Moran layup broke up the 9-0 run. The Pride responded by going on another 9-0 run to end the quarter, capped by a Hickson three-pointer to tie the game with 10.3 seconds left in regulation.
In overtime, Greensboro scored the first two baskets to jump ahead 76-72 nearly 90 seconds into the extra period. Mallon hit on a layup to cut the lead in half before a jumper from Sabrina Joseph put the Pride up four once again. Mallon and Moran hit back-to-back baskets to tie the game at 78-78 with 2:18 showing on the clock. The Pride held the Fighting Squirrels to just one field goal attempt over the last three minutes and finished out the contest on a 12-0 run as they walked away with a 90-78 victory.
As a team, Mary Baldwin shot 46.0 percent (29-63) from the floor, including 11 three-pointers. The Fighting Squirrels shot over 60% in the first quarter and over 50% in the third as well. Meanwhile, the Pride finished at a 39.0 pct clip (32-82) and were 81.8 percent from the free-throw line. MBU outrebounded the home side 46-38, but GC prevailed with 26 points off turnovers compared to just seven from the Fighting Squirrels.
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