Tigerville, S.C.—The North Greenville women’s basketball team secured an early lead, and kept within striking distance of the #22 Limestone Saints on Tuesday night, but the Crusaders fell short of an early season upset bid, dropping an 87-77 decision to the Saints in Conference Carolinas action.

The Crusaders had Alisha Hope and Timisty Nelson who both registered 20 points. Hope and Nelson also led the Crusaders with five rebounds apiece. NGU got the scoring started early as Tyler Powers dropped in a one of her five three pointers just 41 seconds into the game. The saints would even the tally a couple of times in and grab the lead twice in the opening minutes of the frame, but the Crusaders were able to hold on to the advantage until the 13:37 mark of the period.

Celestra Warren’s layup would give the Saints a 17-16 lead, which the saints would not relinquish for the rest of the night. North Greenville would keep the lead to just a two possession game for much of the half, but Limestone would hit key shots down the stretch including a 6-2 run in the final 3:28 to take a 12 point lead into halftime.

The Crusaders continued to play the nationally ranked Saints close in the second half. Limestone would lead by as many as 16 points during the 2^nd period of play, NGU would cut that lead to 9 with 3:44 left in the game, but the Saints were able to keep the Crusaders at arms length for the final 3 plus minutes, to escape Tigerville with the ten point victory. Tyler Powers continued her strong season from behind the arch, going 5-10 from beyond the arch, while finishing with 18 total points. Joining Powers, Hope, and Nelson with double-digit points was Jaquazha Barrino who finished with a season high 11, Krisceda Cotton finished the night with six points. NGU shot 45.5% from the field Tuesday night, and 33.3% from beyond the arch.

North Greenville will return to the court on Thursday night in Tigerville in a rematch with Lander University. Tipoff for Thursday night is scheduled for 6pm.