DAHLONEGA – Despite a fourth quarter surge, the No. 14 University of North Georgia (UNG) women's basketball team came up just short Friday night, falling 51–50 to Lincoln Memorial at Lynn Cottrell Arena at the UNG Convocation Center on the opening day of the UNG Nighthawk Classic presented by Bryan Properties.
The game was a one-possession affair until over a minute into the third quarter where LMU would stretch its lead to 12, 36-24 with 4:57 remaining.
North Georgia trailed 37-31 entering the final period but put together its best offensive stretch of the night with a 19-point fourth quarter to climb back into contention. The Nighthawks cut the deficit to a single possession multiple times behind the play of
Averie Jones, who led all scorers with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including 4-for-6 from beyond the arc.
Caroline Martin added 17 points and seven rebounds, while
Jaleah Storr pulled down seven boards off the bench.
Lincoln Memorial (3-0) countered with timely scoring of its own. Kamil Collier paced the Railsplitters with 15 points, and Lexi Patty added 13 points and six rebounds. LMU held the lead for more than 28 minutes and used an efficient third quarter shooting 7-for-13 from the field with three made threes to push ahead by as many as 12.
North Georgia tightened defensively in the final period, forcing five LMU turnovers, and converting in transition to make it a one possession game again in the final minute. The Nighthawks finished the night shooting 18-for-48 while outrebounding LMU 38-33.
With the loss, UNG moves to 3-3 on the year. The Nighthawks will face Carson-Newman tomorrow (Nov. 22) at 4:00 p.m. to close out the event.
