Basketball Cages Lady Bobcats 74-60

SPARTANBURG, SC-- Converse's Katie Vaughn and Ashley Arff combined for 35 points which lead the Valkyries to their first conference win of the season against Lees-McRae's Lady Bobcats on Wednesday evening in Hannah Gym. The bout ended 74-60, sending LMC to 1-10 on the season. Converse moves up to 1-10 overall.

In the first half, the Valkyries jumped out to a quick 13 point lead, 15-2, just over five minutes into the game on a Kaite Vaughn field goal. The Lady Bobcats went on an 11-2 run to cut the lead to 18-13 with 9:57 on the clock, but the Valkyries pushed the lead back ten, 23-13, two minutes later and to 16 points, 32-16, at the 3:42 mark. Converse controlled the remaining three minutes and took a 16-point lead, 40-24, into the half.

The Lady Bobcats only managed to shoot 29 percent from the floor and missed their five attempts from three in the first half, while the Valkyries were 48 percent from the floor and 62 percent from behind the arc.

Coming out after the half, Converse pushed the lead to 23 points, 49-26, three minutes into the half, which was their largest lead of the game. Lees-McRae was able to trim the margin to 14 points, 53-39, with 12:02 remaining, and went on a 10-0 run to cut the lead to 67-59 with 3:48 to play when Converse struggled to handle the Lady Bobcat press. Converse pushed the lead back to 11 points, 71-60, and closed the game out with a 74-60 win.

Lees-McRae finished the game shooting 28 from the floor and 11 from three, while Converse was 47 overall and 43 from behind the arc.

Lauren Casey and Colette Montgomery paced the Lady Bobcats with 16 points. Casey was 5-of-9 from the floor and 6-of-8 from the free throw line and had a team-high four assists. Montgomery collected a team-high eight rebounds.

For the Valkyries, Ashley Arff tallied a game-high 19 points, and Katie Vaughn added 16 points by going 7-for-8 from the floor and hitting both of free throws. She also contributed 5 steals and 6 total rebounds. Danielle Henderson notched 11 points. Arff and Alaina Smith grabbed a team-high six rebounds, and Vaughn paced the team with five assists.

Converse returns to the floor on Saturday, January 16 at Belmont Abbey.