By Nicholas Kolsin
The Braves Women’s basketball team lost in the quarterfinals of the Conference Carolinas Tournament to the Young Harris Mountain Lions in Overtime 75-67. Their season is most likely over unless they get an at large bid for the NCAA Tournament.
Kelci Adams lead the team in scoring with 14 points, in addition to 12 rebounds. Zaria Clark had a double double as well with 12 points and 11 boards. Stella Mollica had 13 points and 6 assists. Hannah Russell scored 12 points in the game, 6 of them coming in Overtime. She scored 6 of the teams 8 points in the frame.
With 4 minutes left in regulation, a Zaria Clark layup gave the Braves a 6 point lead. The Mountain Lions responded with a layup to cut the Braves lead to four. After a few minutes of no scoring, CC player of the year Annalise Malone went up for a defensive rebound and was fouled. With the team in the bonus, she would shoot two free throws, making both and cutting the lead to two. After a Brave basket, Malone again cut the lead to two by getting to the paint and scoring. With 15 seconds left, Young Harris Kamryn Bates hit a jumper to tie the game. When the Braves got the ball back, Zaria Clark would charge into the Young Harris defender to turn the ball over and send the game to overtime.
In Overtime, Hannah Russell would go down early and hit a quick jumper in the paint to get the early lead. The teams went back and forth trading baskets until a Young Harris three with 2:47 left gave them the lead at 66-65. The Mountain Lions would them make 6 unanswered free throws with the Braves not able to score on the other end to give them a 7 point lead with under 45 seconds to play. A Hannah Russell basket would cut the lead to five with 41 seconds left, but that was all the Braves were able to muster as they would lose the game 75-67.
One of the Catalyst for the Braves loss was the paint battle. The Braves were outscored 40-26 in the paint in this game. The Mountain Lions ability to get to the line was another factor in the win. Young harris shot 33 free throws, making 23 as opposed to the Braves 15 attempts, making 11.
The Women’s selection show is Sunday, the 8th, at 10:30 P.M.