Gaffney, S.C.—The North Greenville women’s basketball team dropped its first conference game of the season Monday night, falling victim to the Limestone Saints 68-67 in a battle of two teams tied for first place.

Thee Crusaders scored in double figures including Alisha Hope, who led the Crusaders with 12 points. Karly Stache and Christina Carlis scored 10 points, while Krisceda Cotton scored 9.

The Crusaders sprinted out to a quick lead in the first period leading by as many as 11 points. NGU led until the 4:29 mark of the first half when Limestone tied the game at 30 on a transition three pointer from Tia Williams. Limestone would take its first lead of the game with 3:09 left in the half after a three pointer from Maria Young. Young proved to be a matchup problem for North Greenville as she scored 21 points to lead all scorers. Limestone took a five-point lead into Intermission.

The Crusaders and Saints continued a very competitive second half, battling through 8 ties and 10 total lead changes. The Saints clung to a 3-point lead with 1:21 left, but a Christina Carlis layup cut the lead to 1 with 32 seconds left. With 30 seconds left, the Crusaders forced a turnover but failed to convert, on a layup and a jumper allowing the saints to escape with the one point win.

“We are very disappointed with the loss, but not disappointed with the team effort,” remarked Jayne Arledge after the loss. “We just have to stay up and work hard. Hopefully we’ll meet them again in the tournament and the game will mean just as much as it did tonight.”

The loss drops the Crusaders to 11-4 overall, and 6-1 in league play. It also drops NGU out of the first place tie with Limestone in the Western Division. NGU will return the court on Wednesday night when the Bobcats of Lees McRae come to Tigerville for a 5:30 showdown with the Crusaders.