North Georgia shot 51.4 percent from the field and defeated
Tusculum College 92-61 in Women's basketball in the opening game of
the Loch Shop Classic on the campus of Clayton State University
Friday evening.
Mimi Hill scored a game-high 21 points and Jaymee Carnes added 19
points, 11 rebounds, six assists and five blocked shots for the
Nighthawks (5-1), who outrebounded the Pioneers 50-37 while holding
Tusculum to 29.7 percent shooting (19-for-64).
Nequoiah Anderson was the only player to reach double figures for
Tusculum (0-5), scoring 14 points, while Shynese Whitener had nine
points and six assists to go along with three steals. Elise Coberly
added season highs of nine points and seven rebounds in 19 minutes
off the bench for Tusculum.
The Nighthawks shot 36-for-70 from the field and 6-for-19 from
three-point range against the Pioneers, while Tusculum finished
3-for-16 from beyond the arc but hit 20 of its 28 free-throw
attempts in the game.
North Georgia jumped out to a 6-0 lead after 3 1/2 minutes and led
17-4 following a three-pointer by Molly Rainwater with 13:30 left
in the first half. The Nighthawks led by as many as 20 points on
three different occasions in the half and carried a 46-30 lead to
halftime, behind 15 points from Carnes and 14 from Hill. North
Georgia shot 54.1 percent from the field in the half, and held
Tusculum to 33.3 percent (11-for-33) from the floor.
The Nighthawks continued to add to their lead in the second half,
holding its largest advantage at 82-44 with 7:49 to go on a layup
by Karlee Akin. North Georgia shot 48.5 percent in the second half,
but Tusculum was just 8-for-31 (25.8 percent) in the half as a
team.
Blakeley Burleson just missed double figures for Tusculum with nine
points and five rebounds, while Kristen McMillion tallied seven
points, four rebounds, three steals and a pair of blocked shots.
Stephanie Huffman also reached double figures in scoring for the
Nighthawks, finishing with 10 points and eight rebounds.
The Pioneers will face eighth-ranked Clayton State Saturday at 1:30
p.m. in the final day of the Loch Shop Classic.
