CENTRAL, S.C. - The Converse Basketball team trailed by double-figures heading into the final quarter but was unable to complete the comeback as Southern Wesleyan handed the Valkyries a 74-70 loss on the road in league action Tuesday evening.

THE BASICS

FINAL | Converse 70, Southern Wesleyan 74

RECORDS | Converse 4-17 (3-14), Southern Wesleyan 5-16 (3-14)

LOCATION | Central, S.C.

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

Brianna James led the Valkyries with 24 points.  Paige Johnson tied her career-high with 17 points.  Keocia Walker chipped in with 10 points.  Walker grabbed seven boards, while Johnson hauled in six to lead the team.

HOW IT HAPPENED

1st Quarter

After Keocia Walker hit a layup to start the contest, SWU jumped out in front with a 6-0 lead.  Paige Johnson would score six of the Valkyries' eight points to tie things at 10-all with 4:42 left in the quarter.

Brianna James knocked down a pair of free throws and Hannah Anderson hit a layup to end the scoring for the quarter as both teams were tied 14-all after ten minutes of action.

2nd Quarter

Southern Wesleyan opened up the second quarter on a 10-2 run with Abigail Lewis netting the only basket for Converse during the run.

Tatum Boggs knocked down a jumper to end the run midway through the quarter.

Paige Johnson and Dominique Hill connected from distance to bring the Valkyries to within three, 29-26, with 1:22 to play in the first half.

SWU pushed their lead back out to six, 32-26, with under a minute to play in the half.  Brianna James hit a triple as time expired off the pass from Kassidy Moorhouse.

Converse went into the locker room trailing 32-29.

3rd Quarter

After trading baskets in the opening minutes of the second half, Southern Wesleyan used a 9-2 run to extend their lead into double-figures.

Paige Johnson ended the run with a layup with 4:20 to go in the third quarter to cut it to 48-38.  Johnson and Kassidy Moorhouse connected on jumpers to end the quarter for the Valkyries trailing 58-46.

4th Quarter

The Valkyries opened up the final stanza on a 9-0 run over the first 1:36 second of the quarter.  Keocia Walker netted two from the charity stripe to spark the run.  Brianna James knocked down a trey followed by baskets by Walker and Kassidy Moorhouse to cut the deficit to 58-55.

With 5:01 to play in regulation, Paige Johnson trimmed the SWU lead to 63-61 with a pair from the stripe.  SWU would knock down a triple to push their lead back to five, but Brianna James answered with a triple on the other end.

The Warriors extended their lead back out to six, 70-64 with 2:25 to play.

After a pair of freebies by Brianna James and a layup by Paige Johnson, Keocia Walker hit a layup with five ticks left on the clock to bring it to a one possession contest, 72-70.

Southern Wesleyan held off the comeback with a pair of free throws to seal the win.

UP NEXT

The Valkyries travel to Pfeiffer on Saturday, February 11.  Tip-off is at 5:30pm.