GREENWOOD, S.C. - With a defensive stop at the buzzer, the No. 6 University of North Georgia women's basketball team defeated No. 2 Lander to take the Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship back to Dahlonega Saturday, 72-70. UNG hit 14-of-25 threes to bolster the offense in the contest.

"The threes were huge for us today," said head coach Buffie Burson. "I think the main thing, though, is that we got some defensive stops after halftime. We were able to string together some stops that allowed us to get some momentum on the offensive end."

Lander jumped out to a 14 point lead in the first half before the Nighthawks started clawing back by hitting shots from distance. By halftime, North Georgia had cut the lead to six and came out in the second half to rally to a two point lead headed to the final 10 minutes.

UNG and Lander traded blows in the fourth quarter with the Nighthawks doing just enough to get the win late, securing their third league tournament championship in four years.

NOTES
- Kara Groover was the hot hand for UNG from behind the arc, hitting six threes to total a team-high 18 points. Abbie Franklin added 14, while Abby Hubert and Julianne Sutton put up 13 and 11, respectively.

- The 14 threes hit ties the all-time record for UNG in a single game, matching a 2008 contest against Columbus State.

- The win Saturday is the first for North Georgia in Greenwood since February 21, 2018.

- Groover was named the tournament's MVP, while Sutton and Caroline Martin were also named to the All-Tournament Team.

NEXT UP
Earning the automatic bid, North Georgia will await the NCAA Selection Show for the South Regional Sunday night at 10 p.m. to see who and when they will play in the regional which will take place in Dahlonega.