#8 Women’s Basketball earns gritty win over Mars Hill to move to 2-0 in SAC

Salisbury, N.C. —- The 8th-ranked Catawba College women's basketball team forced Mars Hill to commit 20 first-half turnovers en route to a gritty 66-56 win over Mars Hill in South Atlantic Conference women's basketball action in Goodman Arena, where the Catawba Indians have won 23 games in a row.

TEAM STATS

- Mars Hill shot 22-for-45 (49 percent) from the field; Catawba was 22-of-74 (30 percent) from the floor

- The Catawba Indians went 9-for-35 (26 percent) from three-point range, while holding the Lions to just 1-of-8 (13 percent) from deep

- Catawba was 13-for-17 (77 percent) from the free throw line; MHU was 11-of-19 (58 percent) from the charity stripe

- Mars Hill out-rebounded Catawba 46-35, but it was Catawba who held a slight 8-6 advantage in second-chance points

- Catawba recorded 13 assists to a season-low nine turnovers, while forcing the Lions to 29 turnovers with seven assists

- The Catawba Indians held a huge 25-4 advantage in points off turnovers

- MHU out-scored Catawba 30-22 in the paint; the two benches combined for just 22 points on the night

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Janiya Downs recorded a game-high 16 points with eight rebounds and three assists

- Sara McIntosh added 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting along with five boards and two steals

- Lyrik Thorne also scored 14 points, while adding three assists

- Nala Baker had seven points with four rebounds with a team-high five made free throws

- Mary Spry added five points and three boards in 11 minutes off the bench

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST QUARTER

- Mars Hill scored the first point from either side nearly 90 seconds into the game

- Thorne's three-pointer capped a 7-0 sprint that gave Catawba the lead in the early going

- The Catawba Indians pushed the lead to as much as 14-2 after McIntosh's three just after the six-minute mark

- Spry's triple made it a 20-6 Catawba lead at the 3:05 mark

- The teams were scoreless for the final two minutes of the first quarter, as Catawba led 20-8 after the first 10 minutes

SECOND QUARTER

- Downs' three-pointer in the opening minute of the frame made it a 23-10 lead for the hosts

- The Lions responded with an 8-2 run to cut their deficit down to seven

- Downs buried another three-pointer at the three-minute mark to return the lead to double digits

- Janette Hannis' late jumper brought Mars Hill to within 32-24 at the halftime break

THIRD QUARTER

- The Lions stormed out of the second half with the game's first six points to get within a single bucket in the opening two minutes

- McIntosh broke the scoreless drought for Catawba at the 6:37 mark

- Porter's three-pointer a couple minutes later capped Catawba's 7-0 blitz to retake a nine-point lead

- Spry's layup got the lead all the way back up to 45-31 at the 3:02 mark

- The Lions kept hanging around, trailing by 10 with 10 minutes remaining

FOURTH QUARTER

- Mars Hill scored the first two baskets of the fourth to get within 47-41 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter

- The Lions answered a pair of Catawba free throws with two more buckets to cut the deficit to four at the seven-minute mark

- Halei Gillis' and-one cut the Catawba lead back to a single basket

- McIntosh made the first field goal for Catawba in the fourth quarter on a three-pointer with 3:23 to go to double the lead

- After a Kaira Dixon-Booker layup got the lead back to double digits, Catawba survived a late push from MHU's Jo Snow with a deep three with free throws to ice the victory

UP NEXT

- Catawba returns to Goodman Arena next Wednesday, hosting SAC contender Anderson for a matchup with the previously ranked Trojans at 5:30 p.m.