PEMBROKE — The UNC Pembroke women’s basketball team shot a season-best 50% from the field and held the lead for 76.8% of the contest on the way to a 70-66 victory against Shorter on Tuesday afternoon at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court. The Braves (10-2, 4-1 CC) have now won their last five games and improve to 5-0 when playing in Pembroke this season.
The setback for the Hawks (6-2, 2-1 CC) snapped a five-game winning streak and marked their first conference loss and road loss of the season. Shorter took what would be its largest lead of the afternoon, 5-0, after a 3-pointer from Tori Smiley just a minute into the contest. UNC Pembroke answered with a 5-0 run to knot to score at five after an old-fashioned 3-point play from Hannah Russell, and would eventually lead 16-11 after a three in the corner from Kelci Adams at the four-minute mark.
The Hawks closed out the period on a 12-2 run to lead 21-18 after the opening quarter. Stella Mollica canned a 3 to tie the score at 21 to start the second quarter, but Shorter’s Tiara Lewis gave the Hawks a 23-21 advantage with a layup with 8:13 on the clock. The Braves put together a 6-0 scoring surge capped off with a jumper from Maya Hood to lead 27-24 with 6 1/2 minutes left to play in the half.
The Hawks worked their deficit back to 27-26, but the Braves finished off the quarter on a 13-4 run to lead 40-30 as the teams headed into the locker rooms. Adams gave UNC Pembroke its largest lead of the contest, 43-30, with a triple to start.
