Boxscore

MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – Saint Augustine's College got another spectacular effort from senior center Keyona Bryant (Springdale, Md.), but the Lady Falcons dropped a 73-69 decision to Mount Olive College Monday (Dec. 12) in a non-conference women's basketball contest at Kornegay Arena.

Bryant scored 23 points and collected nine rebounds for the Lady Falcons (4-3 overall). She made 8 of 12 shots and all seven of her free throws. She even added two steals.

But the Lady Falcons, losers of two straight, were plagued by mistakes in a turnover-filled game. They had a season-high 29 turnovers to offset 46 percent shooting. The mistakes hurt the Lady Falcons down the stretch as Mount Olive (4-2) finished the game on an 8-4 run to break a 65-65 tie at the 2:43 mark.

Bryant received support from sophomore center Umeka Benson (Charlotte, N.C.), sophomore guard Ebony Spencer (Chesapeake, Va.) and senior guard Keianna Evans (Fayetteville, N.C.) Benson had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Lady Falcons, who outrebounded the Trojans 42-37. Benson scored 10 points in the second half to help the Lady Falcons erase a 34-31 halftime deficit. Spencer scored 12 points and Evans added 10 points.

Andrea Jones scored a game-high 24 points for the Trojans, who shot 38 percent and committed 23 turnovers but had 13 more field goal attempts because of Lady Falcons' turnovers and their offensive rebounding (16-13).  Joneiqua Gary scored 11 points and Tamara Nesmith added 10 points.

One side note to the game – Mount Olive player Ansia Dial is the daughter of St. Aug assistant football coach Kevin Dial.

The Lady Falcons play again in two days (Dec. 14) when they travel to Washington, D.C., to visit the University of District of Columbia. Game time is 6 p.m.