December 1 , 2007
Contact: Heather Sulkowski
Limestone College Sports Information
Phone: 864-488-8219
hsulkowski@limestone.edu

LADY SAINTS FALL TO BELMONT ABBEY, 63-57

GAFFNEY, SC – The Lady Saints basketball team suffered a 63-57 loss to Belmont Abbey in Conference Carolinas action Saturday night.  The Crusaders improve to 4-1 overall, 3-0 in the league, while the Saints drop 2-6, 1-1 in conference play. 

Two Saints scored in double-digits as Lindsay Kyle (Springfield, Va.) and Tierney Burdett (Peoria, Ill.) both led the team with 15 points.  Burdett was 5-of-7 from the field and 4-of-4 from the free throw line. Kyle shot 5-of-9 from the field, 2-of-4 from beyond the arc and 3-of-4 from the free throw line.  Addie Graves (Columbia, S.C.) and Essence Greer (Washington, D.C.) dominated the boards for the Saints finishing with 13 and 11 rebounds respectively.  Ariel Lyons (Brandon, Fla.) added 9 points for the Saints.

For the Crusaders, Marie Marquez (Greenville, S.C.) led all scorers with 20 points.  Asha Hardaway (Greensboro, N.C.) picked up a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Mercedes King (Greensboro, N.C.) added 8 in the win.

In the first half, the Lady Saints led by as many as 5 points but after 10 lead changes and 8 ties, the Saints headed into the locker room up by 3 (24-21) over the visiting Crusaders. Limestone hit an impressive 50% from beyond the arc (3-6) as the Crusaders were unable to connect on 3-point attempts.  The Crusaders were 5-of-7 from the free-throw line (71.4%) as the Saints struggled only making 5 of 16 (31.3%).  From the field, the Saints were 8-of-24 (33.3%) and the Crusaders shot 8-of-30 (26.7%).  Thirteen of the Saints first-half points came off of Crusader turnovers.  

In the second half, the Saints led by as many as 9 points but began to struggle in the last few minutes of the game as Graves fouled out with 3:50 to go.  Hardaway would go on to sink both free throws as the Crusaders took the lead at 52-50.  A made jump shot by Marquez put the Crusaders up by 4 with just 1:19 remaining in regulation.  Kyle was forced to foul in order to stop the clock at 59.6, picking up her fifth foul of the game.  Amanda McDonald (Albany, Ga.) made both free throws to push the Abbey's lead to 6.  The Crusaders would go on to win the game 63-57. 

For the game, Limestone shot 35.8% from the field (19-53) and only 50% from the free throw line (15-30).  The Crusaders shot 35.6% (21-59) and 71.4% from the free throw line (20-28).

Limestone travels to Brevard, N.C., on Saturday, December 8 for a non-conference game against Brevard College at 3 p.m.

-LIMESTONE-