BANNER ELK, N.C.- With snow coming down outside, the first half deficit sank the Valkyries as Converse fellto Lees-McRae 68-58 in Conference Carolinas action on Wednesday afternoon.
Converse (4-20, 3-17 CC) was led offensively by Margo Dill (Hilton Head, S.C.) and Jakyra Washington (Durham, N.C.). Dill scored 16 points and grabbed seven boards, while Washington, who hit two field goals, scored 12 points after going 8-8 from the charity stripe.
Christhea Mitchell (Jacksonboro, S.C.) and Kassidy Moorhouse (Anderson, S.C.) chipped in eight points apiece. Yashee Johnson (West Columbia, S.C.) grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
Lees-McRae (6-20, 5-15 CC) paced its offense hitting seven threes and converting off the Valkyrie miscues. Converse committed 22 turnovers allowing the Bobcats to convert those turnovers into 28 points.
Converse started the game off slow falling behind early after LMC went on a 17-3 run pushing the Bobcat lead to 29-14. Dill, Washington and Erin Horne (Orlando, Fla.) would go on a 6-0 in successive trips down the floor to cut the deficit to 29-18 with 3:35 remaining in the half.
LMC would head into the locker room with a 34-20 advantage before opening up the second half with their largest lead of the contest at 37-20. Converse would cut it down to a 12 point game early in the second half.
The Converse defensive pressure caused the Bobcats to take two timeouts. Both teams swapped baskets midway through the second half before a lay-up by Mitchell with 9:50 remaining cut the deficit down to eight, 45-37.
A jumper by Ashley Salgado (Ottumwa, Iowa) and Washington cut the Bobcat lead down to six, 51-45. That was the closest the Valkyries got the entire game despite Moorhouse scoring all of her eight points in a 58 second span.
Converse continues their road trip heading to Mount Olive on Saturday, February 21. Tip-off is at 2pm.
Notes:
Jakyra Washington scored in double-figures for the sixth straight game. Longest stretch of double-figure scoring by any Valkyrie this season.