Box Score | Tournament home

DAHLONEGA, GA – The North Georgia women’s basketball team fought wire-to-wire Saturday afternoon with the Tars of Rollins College, the but the Lady Saints came up short, falling 64-58 in non-conference action in the final game of the Chick-fil-A Tip-Off Classic.

North Georgia drops their second straight game, going 0-2 in the classic and falling to 1-2 on the season, while Rollins splits their games on the weekend, moving to 3-1 overall with the victory.

The first half saw five ties and 11 lead changes as the Lady Saints and Tars battled every possession in the first period and went into intermission tied 35-35.  Rollins held the biggest lead of the first period at five points with 9:30 remaining, but North Georgia came back and led twice in the final three minutes before a free throw by Tera McDaniel with 12 seconds remaining knotted the score at halftime.

North Georgia and Rollins continued to trade baskets to open the second half as Meredith Montgomery’s three-pointer with 9:34 remaining in the game gave the Lady Saints a 46-43 advantage. The Tars would come right back with back-to-back buckets to spark an 11-2 to take the lead for good.

Rollins led by as many as 11 points with two minutes remaining before North Georgia came back and pulled to within three points and forced a steal, but a missed jumper and long rebound sealed the Lady Saints’ fate in the final seconds as Rollins knocked down three of their last four free throws to seal the six-point victory.

Brittainy Daiger led Rollins offensively with 14 points and seven rebounds, while Kristina Mingos and Amber Heistan tallied 14 points apiece and combined for seven steals.

Montgomery led the Lady Saints with 14 points on 3-8 shooting from behind the arc, while Tiffany Marlow and Whitney Randolph scored 11 points apiece, and Ieshia Alexander finished in double figures with 10 points and six rebounds.

North Georgia shot 30-percent from the floor, 46-percent from long range, and 67-percent from the free throw line, while Rollins finished 45-percent from the field, 31-percent from behind the arc, and 66-percent from the charity stripe.

For the second straight game, the Lady Saints held a rebounding advantage in a losing effort, outrebounding the Tars 42-35, while picking up 18 offensive boards to just six for Rollins.

The Lady Saints return to action next weekend, hosting Trevecca Nazarene, Erskine College, and Kentucky Wesleyan for the Chick-fil-A Thanksgiving Classic. North Georgia will face Kentucky Welseyan Friday evening before playing host to Trevecca Nazarene on Saturday afternoon.