MOC women drop fourth straight CVAC game

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on February 1, 2005 1:55 PM

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CHARLOTTE - Kasey Gillis hit the go-ahead basket with 18 seconds left and Queens held on for a 66-63 win over Mount Olive in Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference women's basketball Monday. The loss is the fourth in a row for the Trojans and the second in a row decided in the final 20 seconds.

Two Trojan players established career highs for scoring as Melanie Cobb finished with 22 points and Anita Rogers added 11 points. Rogers connected on her first three 3-point attempts.

Mount Olive (8-8 overall, 6-4 CVAC) took an early seven-point lead and built the lead to as many as 12 points in the first half as Shenetta Moye's 3-pointer capped a 7-0 run and give the Trojans a 27-15 lead with 5:22 left in the first half. Queens (4-14, 3-8) cut the lead to four, but Rogers hit a three-pointer with seven seconds left in the first half to give Mount Olive a 35-28 lead at halftime.

Queens opened the second half with a 12-2 run to take its first lead since the 17:47 mark of the first half. Queens built the lead to six points, but the Trojans regained the lead when Rogers' 3-pointer capped a run of seven unanswered points to put Mount Olive ahead 48-47 with 9:27 remaining.

Mount Olive extended its lead to as many as five points, but Maggie Austin's basket with 2:13 remaining tied the game 61-61, the seventh tie of the game. Cobb hit a pair of free throws with 1:08 left to put Mount Olive back on top, but Queens tied the game 63-63 with 54 seconds left when Erinn Hayes scored the tying basket after keeping the Royals' possession alive with two offensive rebounds.

Queens forced a turnover on Mount Olive's ensuing turnover and after a timeout, Gillis hit a baseline jumper with 17 seconds left to put the Royals ahead to stay. Queens added a late free throw after the Trojans were unable to connect on the tying basket.

Latoria Harvey narrowly missed her sixth double-double in nine games with nine points and 13 rebounds. Cobb was 8-for-14 from the field and 6-for-8 from the free-throw line.

Austin led all scorers with 25 points to go with 10 rebounds, while Hayes also posted a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Austin was 9-for-11 from the field and 7-for-7 from the line.

Mount Olive returns to action Thursday as the Trojans play host to Barton in CVAC action. Tip-off is 5:30 p.m.