MOUNT OLIVE, N.C.  – For the first time in program history, the Converse University women's basketball team (7-10, 3-5 Conference Carolinas) defeated the Mount Olive Trojans (3-11, 1-5 Conference Carolinas) by a final score of 70-60.

Redshirt senior center Sydney Wilson led the team in scoring for the second consecutive game with 24 points. It is also the second consecutive game in which Wilson has posted over 20 points. She also led the team in rebounds with nine. Graduate guard Jordan Brown and senior guard Alisa Davenport also scored double digit points with 12 and 10 respectively.

The Valkyries shot 72.7% from the field, a season high for Converse by almost 20%. They held the Trojans to just under 40% from the field and forced 13 turnovers.

Converse got off to a hot start scoring four of the game's first five points. The Trojans began to battle back early, briefly taking a lead with just under seven and half minutes to play in the first quarter, but the Valkyries quickly took the lead back. The closest Mount Olive ever came again to gaining a second lead was tying the game 17-17 with five seconds to play in the first quarter. Converse sank the first basket of the second quarter.

Converse outpaced Mount Olive by six points in the second quarter to take a 34-28 lead into the locker room. They doubled the six-point lead by outscoring the Trojans by six points again in the third quarter. The Trojans cut that lead to 10 by game's end, but with the middle two frames giving Converse enough cushion on the lead, the Valkyries secured the 70-60 victory.

Converse returns to the court on Wednesday, Jan. 24 as they return to North Carolina to take on the Lees-McRae Bobcats, completing the Valkyries' first go-round of division play. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 P.M. in Banner Elk.

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