MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. - The Converse Basketball team was unable to overcome the first quarter deficit against the Mount Olive Trojans in Conference Carolinas action on the road Tuesday evening falling to the Trojans 86-76.

Brianna James led the Valkyries with a 20 point outing, all in the second half.  Paige Johnson finished with 16 points after going a perfect 10-10 from the charity stripe.  Hannah Anderson chipped in with 11 points and six rebounds.

THE BASICS

FINAL | Mount Olive 86, Converse 76

RECORDS | Mount Olive 8-2 (5-0), Converse 2-7 (1-3)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1st Quarter

Erin Horne started off the scoring for the Valkyries with a trey from the wing.  Hannah Anderson's layup gave the Valkyries their first lead of the contest just 1:34 into the game at 5-4.

Mount Olive went on a 6-1 run to regain the lead just four minutes in at 10-6.  Hannah Anderson scored on a backdoor cut to end the run.

Midway through the quarter, Erin Horne knocked down another from distance to cut the deficit to 12-11.

The Trojans would go on a 14-0 run to end the quarter and take a 26-11 lead into the second quarter.

2nd Quarter

Mount Olive continued on their run to push their lead out to 30-11 before Hannah Anderson ended the run with a basket.

UMO pushed their lead to 22 at 37-15 with 5:29 remaining in the first half after a three-pointer.

The Valkyries went on a 11-3 run to cut the deficit to 40-24.  Paige Johnson started the run with a layup followed by Briana Hill knocking down an answer three.  Johnson continued the run with a pair of free throws before Shaniqua Brown hit the front end of a three point play. Tatum Boggs ended the run with a jumper from the elbow.

Converse went into the locker room trailing 44-28.

3rd Quarter

After a small 5-0 run by the Trojans, Paige Johnson ended the run with a jumper. Brianna James scored the next six points by knocking down a pair of jumpers and a pair from the stripe.

Paige Johnson would score four more points in the quarter.  Tiffani Riggen and Brianna James knocked down a trey to bring the contest within 13, 61-48, with 3:10 to play in the quarter.

Converse headed into the final 10 minutes of action trailing 69-52.

4th Quarter

Mount Olive started the quarter with a trey, but the Valkyries would get those points back after a free throw by Abigail Lewis and a layup by Keocia Walker. Three straight free throws by Brianna James ignited a Valkyrie run.  Keocia Walker connected on 1-2 from the stripe to cut it to 72-59 just 2:05 into the quarter.

Paige Johnson hit four free throws to cut the deficit to a ten point contest, 79-69 with 2:56 remaining.  Hannah Anderson would finish a three-point play to cut it to eight, 82-74.

The Trojans would seal the win with free throws down the stretch.

UP NEXT

Converse travels to Erskine in Due West, S.C. for a Conference Carolinas clash on Friday, January 6.  Tip-off is at 5:30 pm.