(courtesy LMC Sports Information) BANNER ELK, N.C. - Senior guard Lauren Casey had 12 points and 10 assists for a double-double and senior forward Renee Roberson had 10 points and eight rebounds on Senior Day for Lees-McRae College, but the Lady Bobcats let a 14 point lead slip away as the Belmont Abbey Crusaders battled back to earn the 66-63 win.
Trailing 58-48 with 8:27 left in the game, The Abbey outscored Lees-McRae 16-5 in the final 7:20 to cap off the 2009-10 with a 17-10 overall and 15-7 in Conference Carolinas, while the Lady Bobcats end their season with a record of 4-22 overall and 4-18 in Conference Carolinas.
Belmont Abbey shot 52 percent from the field as Courtney Naquin led all scorers with 21 points, nine coming during the Abbey's late second half comeback. Asha Hardaway added 12 points, while Amanda McDonald, Ashley Giddens and Shayla Jackson all finished with ten points. Six of McDonald's ten points came in the final 8:45, the final one tying the game at 60 with 3:18 left.
Lees-McRae was led by Colette Montgomery's 18 points, while Casey and Roberson were the only other Lady Bobcats in double-digit points. The team shot 42 percent from the floor.
Lees-McRae built a 37-28 halftime lead behind a 53 percent shooting effort from the field as Montgomery totaled 14 of her 18 points in the half. Montgomery sank six of her eight field goal attempts but was just one for four in the second half with two free throws. Casey had seven of her ten assists in the half, as well.
In the second half the Lady Bobcats advantage grew to as high as 11 points, and the Abbey could not cut it to any fewer than four at 50-46 with 10:22 left. After that basket, Lees-McRae embarked on an 8-2 run to widen the gap to 58-48 with 8:27 left, but it would only score five more points the rest of the way.
McDonald closed the lead to eight with a jumper, followed by another one 1:25 later. A Naquin three-pointer followed by a basket by Jackson cut the deficit to three. Montgomery interrupted the run with a short jumper to move the lead back to five, but another three from Naquin closed the lead to two at 60-58 with 4:36 left, and McDonald tied the game for the third time1:18 later.
Flowers buried a three-pointer to briefly give the Lady Bobcats the lead at 63-60 with 2:20 left, but they would not score again. Naquin buried another three to knot the game for the fourth and final time at the 1:59 mark, and 1:09 later, Hardaway gave the Abbey the lead for good with an offensive rebound and conversion off of a Jackson miss to push the Crusaders ahead 65-63.
The lead held up as Lees-McRae missed its final three shots of the game, and Paula Regalado sank the final basket of the game with a free throw with one second left.
Lees-McRae's season ends with the loss.
