BANNER ELK, N.C.- The Valkyries had trouble finding their stroke against Lees-McRae as Converse dropped a Conference Carolinas contest, 68-55, on Saturday afternoon in basketball action.

Converse (3-14, 2-11) was led offensively by Brianna James (Spartanburg, S.C.) notching her eighth straight double-figure scoring night with 15 points.  Logan Hollis (Spartanburg, S.C.) added 12 points.  Yashee Johnson (West Columbia, S.C.) grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds and chipped in with eight points.

Lees-McRae (7-13, 6-7) jumped out to a big lead midway through the first quarter, 12-3, thanks to 0-6 shooting from the floor for the Valkyries.  Hollis had three points, all from the stripe.  Y. Johnson ended the drought with a lay-up and a short jumper in the paint.  Converse would cut it to 13-8 after a Bri James freebie.  LMC would go on a 6-0 run to extend their lead out to 19-8 before Erin Horne (Orlando, Fla.) drained a triple.

The Bobcats started the second quarter on a 9-1 to jump out to a 28-12 advantage.  The Valkyries would fight back to make it 33-24 at the break.  Y. Johnson had 10 boards in the first half of play.

Converse would find themselves down by double-figures heading into the fourth quarter but were unable to sustain a comeback down the stretch.

The Valkyries outrebounded LMC 46-43.  Converse had 27 turnovers on the evening leading to 33 points for the Bobcats.

Converse returns to the court on Wednesday, February 3 against Southern Wesleyan in Central, S.C. Tip-off is slated for 5:30pm.