SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Converse University women's basketball team (3-11, 1-6 Conference Carolinas) held onto the lead for over 80% of their game against the King University Tornado (6-8, 4-3 Conference Carolinas), but were unable to secure the victory as the Tornado pushed past the Valkyries with under a minute to play in the game. King won the divisional matchup 54-49.

Sophomore center Tatiana Brown led the Valkyries in scoring with 10 points. Junior guard Andrea Gutierrez Ciordia followed Brown with nine points. Graduate guard Jordan Brown led Converse in rebounding with seven rebounds. She also recorded four steals, the most of any player on either team.

Converse pushed the lead to as many as four points in the second quarter before King evened the game once again with 5:43 remaining in the first half. Their lead grew to five points, 25-20, with just over four minutes to play in the second quarter, but an 11-3 Converse run secured the three-point, 31-28 lead for the Valkyries heading into the halftime break. The Valkyries improved their field goal percentage slightly in the second quarter, shooting 43.8% from the floor, including their first three-point shot of the game.

The Valkyries held King to just two points in the third quarter, holding them without a field goal on 13 third-quarter attempts. The Valkyries tallied 12 points of their own, adding 10 points to their lead, 43-40, heading into the fourth quarter.

King regrouped and tallied 24 points in the fourth quarter, nearly matching their entire first-half output. The Valkyries struggled from the field and fell 54-49.

Converse is back on the court on Saturday, Jan. 18 as they head to Franklin Springs, Georgia to take on the Emmanuel University Lions. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 P.M.

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