BANNER ELK— The St. Andrews Presbyterian College women’s basketball team had its best defensive performance of the season but was unable to overcome a poor shooting performance as host Lees-McRae College posted a 63-49 Conference Carolinas victory.

The Lady Bobcats snapped a seven-game losing streak improving to 3-16 overall and 3-12 in the conference. The Lady Knights dropped their second game in less than 24 hours falling to 2-16 and 1-14.

St. Andrews held Lees-McRae to 63 points and 33.3-percent shooting from the field (both season-best totals for SAPC) but the Knights only shot 25.4-percent from the floor, 16.7-percent from three-point distance, and 53.8-percent from the free throw line.



Reigning Conference Carolinas Women’s Basketball Player of the Week, sophomore guard Megan Lee, led the Lady Knights with 12 points.



A trio of Bobcats scored in double figures to lead the hosts to the 14-point victory. Senior Lauren Casey bucketed a game-high 15 points while sophomore Collette Montgomery and freshman Candace Flowers each poured in 11 points. Montgomery pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds for a double-double.

The two teams played a close first half that featured seven lead changes and two ties before Lees-McRae strung together a 19-5 run in the final six minutes to take a 36-23 lead at halftime. Casey scored seven points during the decisive run while Flowers drained a pair of three-pointers during that span.

Lees-McRae kept a double-digit advantage throughout the second half as the two squads played the final 20 minutes even with the Bobcats finishing with a narrow 27-26 scoring edge.



The Bobcats -- who had 12 players get time on the court Tuesday after both teams played Monday -- used a much deeper bench as their reserves outscored SAPC’s bench, 24-6.

Lees-McRae also controlled the backboards, 55-43.

All seven active Knights scored with senior Jaquese Smith netting 11 points. Senior Kayla Hay and sophomore Brittany Roberts both recorded seven points and freshman Essence Chism chipped in with six. Chism and Hay both corralled nine boards while Smith and Lee each handed out three assists.



Casey just missed a double-double with nine boards while dishing out a game-high seven assists. LMC made a total of eight 3-pointers including three by both Casey and Flowers.

St. Andrews concludes a three-game road swing in four days at Conference Carolinas foe Belmont Abbey College on today at 5:30 p.m.