SPARTANBURG, S.C. - With less than four seconds remaining in regulation, Keocia Walker stole the ball at half court took two dribbles and heaved the potential tying three but would bounce out as time expired. Converse dropped the contest to Erskine 76-73 on Saturday evening.

THE BASICS

FINAL | Converse 73, Erskine 76

RECORDS | Converse 4-14 (3-11), Erskine 9-9 (8-5)

LOCATION | Spartanburg, S.C. (Hannah Gym)

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

Brianna James led the Valkyries with 20 points, half of those coming from the charity stripe.  

Erin Horne notched her second career double-double with 13 points and 12 boards.

Abigail Lewis chipped in with 10 points and seven boards.  Paige Johnson hauled in 11 rebounds.

The Valkyries outrebounded Erskine 61-41.  61 rebounds are second most in program history.

HOW IT HAPPENED

1st Quarter

Erskine jumped out to an early 7-2 lead after Brianna James knocked down a jumper.  A James freebie followed by a basket by Hannah Anderson and James knotted things up at 7-all with 6:14 to play in the quarter.

The Valkyries went on a 7-0 run sparked by Brianna James' two from the stripe out of the media timeout.  Paige Johnson knocked down the only three for the Valkyries in the contest.  Keocia Walker made a layup to end the run.

The Fleet would cut it to a two point contest, but Keocia Walker completed the old-fashioned three point play to push it back to five, 20-15 with under two minutes to play.

A 6-0 Erskine run gave the Fleet a 21-20 advantage with 1:08 to play in the first.

Abigail Lewis and Brianna James returned the lead back to the Valkyries, 24-21 heading into the second quarter.

2nd Quarter

The Valkyries extended their lead to 29-21 after Tatum Boggs and Erin Horne made a basket and Dominique Hill went 1-2 from the line during the mini spurt.

Erin Horne would give the Valkyries their largest lead of the half at nine, 32-23, after picking off the pass and making the layup at the other end.

Erskine cut the deficit to four, 32-28, before a team foul and a technical four pushed it to a seven point contest.  Brianna James went 2-2 on the technical free throws, while Erin Horne went 1-2 for the team foul freebies.

Both teams swapped baskets throughout the rest of the quarter.  Brianna James knocked down two freebies with eight seconds to go to give the Valkyries a 41-35 lead heading into the locker room.

3rd Quarter

The Valkyries struggled to put the ball in the cylinder in the quarter scoring eight points.  Hannah Anderson knocked down a jumper just 30 seconds into the quarter.

Erin Horne hit a jumper off the feed from Paige Johnson gave the Valkyries a double-digit lead with 5:57 to go in the quarter.

A 7-0 Fleet run cut the Converse lead to just three, 45-42, before Abigial Lewis hit the last field goal of the quarter for the Valkyries with 3:48 remaining.

Erskine regained the lead with 2:48 remaining after a mini 4-0 run.  Abigail Lewis knocked down two from the stripe to give the lead back to the Valkyries 49-48.

The Fleet took a 50-49 lead into the final quarter.

4th Quarter

Erskine gained a six point advantage early in the quarter, 55-49.  Brianna James finished the three point play to cut the deficit in half.

The deficit moved to eight, 64-56, midway through the quarter.  Three straight free throws cut the deficit, but Erskine countered with four points to push their lead back to nine, 68-59.

With a minute left on the clock, Erin Horne knocked down two freebies.  Paige Johnson cut the deficit to four, 74-70 with a jumper after an offensive board with 36 ticks on the clock.

Converse went 3-4 from the stripe to make it a one possession contest, 76-73, with under 10 seconds remaining in regulation.  Keocia Walker forced a turnover and attempted the game tying three from the left wing but the attempt rimmed out as time expired.

UP NEXT

Converse hosts Limestone on Wednesday, February 1.  Tip-off is at 7pm.