WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Senior leaders carry Trojans to win over rival Barton

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on February 25, 2017 11:07 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

MOUNT OLIVE -- Sometimes you have to go the hard route to defeat an arch rival.

That's when you find your seniors -- who are playing their final regular-season home game.

And each responded in clutch fashion.

Kiara Jones and Daria Simmons converted key baskets down the stretch and got some help from Ni'Ya Styles. The ice-in-her-veins junior guard drained two free throws with 7.2 seconds to go that capped a tense-filled, 83-80 triumph over arch rival Barton College on Friday evening.

"It was a battle as it always is with Barton," Trojans head coach Wendy Lee said. "Give them credit. They battled all the way to the end, and got some monster rebounds."

Six lead changes highlighted the final 2-plus tense-filled minutes.

JerBria Smith's layup pushed Barton ahead 76-75 with 1:53 left in regulation. Styles answered with a layup and Kianna Wynn responded with a basket in the paint -- an area BC dominated 54-38.

Jones scored off Felecity Havens' assist. Smith gave the Dogs their last lead, 80-79, on an long open-court pass.

"Big-time baskets down the stretch that put the game in the place that it was in," Lee said. "But, to give our team credit, we hit some big shots to counter those plays they were making. For us, I think that showed some maturity and growth because we were able to finish a really close game."

Simmons scored on Jones' assist to make it 81-80. BC misfired on its next possession, Styles drew a foul and sealed the Trojans' regular-season sweep over the Dogs.

Styles dropped in 27 points -- the 10th time she's emerged as UMO's leading scorer in a game this season.

"We didn't execute down the stretch. We had a couple of ball-handling errors down on our end (and) we had a couple of breakdowns defensively," BC head coach Wendee Saintsing said. "Ni'Ya did a good job of hitting the shots when she needed to. Congrats to Mount Olive. They played a little bit harder and executed down the stretch where we didn't do so great."

The Trojans (21-6 overall, 18-4 CC) built a 10-point lead with 7:16 remaining in the second period. The Bulldogs (17-11, 14-8) scored 18 of the final 24 points and entered the locker room down 42-40.

UMO owned two-possession leads throughout the second half, but could never pull away. BC led in every offensive category -- points off turnovers (24-12), second-chance opportunities (14-13), fast-break scoring (10-2) and bench production (40-14).

The Dogs out-rebounded the Trojans 40-37.

Simmons poured in 21 points, while Jones posted a double-double -- 19 points, 12 rebounds. Hope Toliver supplied 10 points off the bench.

"I told them in the locker room it's a great win and that closes one chapter (on the season)," Lee said. "But we've got another chapter."

The Trojans put pen to paper when they entertain sixth-seeded Erskine on Monday in opening-round play of the season-ending conference tournament. Tip-off is 7 p.m.