Valkyries Steal Win From Bobcats During Late Surge

Valkyries Steal Win From Bobcats During Late Surge

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Converse Basketball team used a fourth quarter surge to defeat Lees-McRae at home in a Conference Carolinas clash on Saturday afternoon, 65-60.

The Valkyries shot 53.3% from the floor to outscore the Bobcats 23-13 in the final 10 minutes of action to seal the comeback victory. Converse swiped a school record 18 steals in the contest.

Converse had balance scoring with three Valkyries posting double-figures.  Brianna James led the charge with 16 points while Keocia Walker and Tiffani Riggen chipped in with 11 and 10 points each.  Paige Johnson contributed nine points and Erin Horne posted eight points.

Keo Walker picked up four steals, while Erin Horne, Paige Johnson, and Dominique Hill swiped three apiece.

THE BASICS

FINAL | Converse 65, Lees-McRae 60

RECORDS | Converse 4-8 (3-5), Lees-McRae 1-14 (1-8)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1st Quarter

Converse and Lees-McRae swapped baskets in the opening portion of the quarter until Tiffani Riggen knocked down a trey just three minutes into play to give the Valkyries an 8-6 advantage.

With the score tied at 13-all, Paige Johnson hit a fastbreak layup with 1:14 remaining to give the Valkyries the lead.  Tatum Boggs knocked down three freebies after getting fouled behind the arc to push the lead out to 18-13.

Lees-McRae hit a jumper at the end of the quarter to trail 18-15.

2nd Quarter

LMC would start the quarter on an 8-2 run regaining the lead at 23-20 with 7:13 to go until halftime.  Keocia Walker produced the lone bucket during the stretch.

After swapping a point on free throws, the Bobcats went on a 7-0 run to give them a ten point advantage, 31-21 with 2:40 left.

Erin Horne started a run knocking down a trey off the pass from Shaniqua Brown.  Paige Johnson followed suit with a knock down of her own from Horne. Brown finished the scoring for the Valkyries in the half with a free throw.

Converse went into the locker room trailing LMC 31-29.

3rd Quarter

The Valkyries and Bobcats traded baskets to open the quarter until Bri James hit a jumper after a steal.  Paige Johnson would swipe the next possession leading to a Keo Walker layup at the other end for a 35-33 advantage.

A Bri James jumper with 1:53 in the quarter was the final points for the Valkyries.  LMC finished the quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 47-42 lead into the final 10 minutes of action.

4th Quarter

Keo Walker completed a three-point play to open the quarter before a 5-0 Bobcat run kept the distance at 52-45.

With five minutes to go, Converse went on a 13-3 run starting with an Erin Horne freebie. Bri James and Paige Johnson produced back-to-back baskets to cut the deficit to one, 57-56.

Erin Horne gave the Valkyries a 58-57 lead on a layup. A LMC basket flipped the lead back to the Bobcats, but that was the final basket the Valkyries allowed the final 3:53 of the contest.

Going 1-2 from the line and a layup by Bri James gave the Valkyries a 61-59 lead, which they never relinquished.

Keo Walker went 4-4 from the stripe to seal the victory for the Valkyries.

RECORD CHASING

Erin Horne needs one more steal to tie the career all-time steals record.  Horne sits at 136 steals.

UP NEXT

Converse ends the home stretch on Monday January 16 against Barton.  Tip-off is slated for 5:30pm.