Nov. 16, 2007

Final Stats

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn.-- North Georgia's Megan Huffman made a three-pointer with 12 seconds to go as North Georgia held off Carson-Newman's valiant rally to win 81-79 in the first round of the 2007 Eagle Club Classic at Holt Fieldhouse.

Carson-Newman (0-1) came out firing in the first half. Angela Volentine made consecutive treys and a jumper followed by an Ashley Tipton triple to give Carson-Newman an 11-8 edge early in the game. Emily Mason's layup with a little more than 10 minutes to go in the first half gave the Lady Eagles a 13-point advantage. North Georgia then went on a 12-2 run to cut C-N 's lead to 25-22 on Krystyn Young's three-pointer. Two Tashea Ledbetter free throws and a Volentine layup gave the Lady Eagles a 31-30 advantage at halftime. C-N shot 42% from the field that half and 50% from beyond the arc.

In the second half, North Georgia stepped up their defensive pressure. A Syretha Marble three-point play and jumper with 13:27 left in the game pushed the Lady Saints into the lead. North Georga built a 12-point lead on a Marble trey with less than ten minutes left to cap a 13-3 run. The Saints increased their lead to 14 on two Brooke Baker free throws, but the Lady Eagles began to rally. Volentine made a pair from the charity stripe and a Shari Buford steal and layup put C-N within 10 points at 76-66. Volentine swiped a North Georgia pass and made a layup to cut the lead to eight. A Buford jumper and Tipton three-pointer pulled the Lady Eagles to within one at 76-75 with less than two minutes to go.

After Kourtney Singleton hit a jumper with 37 seconds left, Tykira McDaniel weaved her way through the lane, drew the foul, and scored a layup. McDaniel missed the free throw, but Emily Mason pulled down the offensive board and banked a left-handed layup into the hoop for a 79-78 lead. With the Carson-Newman crowd in a frenzy, Marble found Huffman wide open on the right side and Huffman swished home the winning points. The Lady Eagles called timeout with 0.7 seconds remaining, but a quick jumper by Buford fell short as time expired.

Volentine led Carson-Newman with 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. Buford collected 12 points and nine rebounds while Mason added 10 points. Lindsey Eggleston and McDaniel had two steals to lead C-N in that category.

Marble led all scorerd with 26 points while Huffman and Singleton added 15 points apiece and Young contributed 11 points.

The Lady Eagles will seek their first win by taking on Clayton State on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. North Georgia will face Lincoln Memorial in Saturday's first game at 4:00 p.m.