SPARTANBURG, S.C. –  The Converse University women's basketball honored five seniors ahead of their Saturday afternoon showdown with the Lees-McRae College Bobcats: Alexis Becker, Andrea Gutierrez Ciordia, Rayanna Evans, Mazie Helpman and Emma Kanz.

Lees-McRae won the game 91-70 and improved to 19-6 on the season. The Bobcats are 15-4 in Conference Carolinas action. The Valkyries fall to 4-22 overall and 3-15 in conference play.

Helpman led the Valkyries in scoring with 21 points.

How It Happened
The Bobcats opened up with a 9-0 lead over the first three minutes and 23 seconds of the game before Helpman drilled a three pointer for the Valkyries first basket of the game. The first Converse basket kicked off a 12-2 run for the Valkyries that gave Converse their first lead of the game at 12-11 with 3:43 remaining in the first quarter. The teams traded the lead on the next five consecutive baskets before the Bobcats settled into a 21-17 lead at the end of the quarter.

The Bobcats got their lead up to eight points with five minutes remaining until halftime and just barely into double digits less than a minute later. LMC added one more point to the lead the rest of the way as Converse trailed 43-32 heading into halftime.

After a basket from Helpman and a free throw from Helpman over the first two minutes of the third quarter, both teams went cold until LMC hit a layup with 4:55 remaining in the third frame leading into the media timeout. Including the preceding layup, Lees-McRae went on a 13-5 run over the next 150 seconds of game time. An 8-5 run to end the quarter cut the lead to 12 points, 61-49, heading into the game's final 10 minutes.

Lees-McRae added nine points to their lead up to the fourth-quarter media timeout and the game ended on an even 14-14 run after the timeout as the Bobcats won 91-70.

Inside the Box Score

• Helpman tallied a team-high 21 points on 8-19, 42.1 percent, shooting from the field and 5-10, 50.0 percent, shooting from beyond the arc. She did not attempt any free throws.
• Graduate student Janiyah Hagood and junior Tatiana Brown both recorded 16-point efforts in the loss.
• Brown completed her double-double with a game-leading 13 rebounds.
• Helpman dished out a team-high five assists.
• The Converse bench outscored the Lees-McRae bench 39-27.
• The Valkyries recorded 14 second-chance points while only allowing 13 to the Bobcats.

Up Next
Converse returns to the court on Monday, Feb. 23 as they host the Chowan Hawks at the Weisiger Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 P.M.

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