Mount Olive, NC – #3 West seed Erskine lost to #2 East seed Mount Olive College 63-58 in the opening round of the Conference Carolinas women’s basketball postseason tournament.  Erskine concludes their season at 13-14 overall while Mount Olive College advances to the semi-final round on Wednesday.

Erskine appeared as if they would run away with the game in the first half.  The Fleet, led by Porsha Morgan’s 10 points and 5 assists in the half, leapt out to a thirteen point lead at 26-13.  Unfortunately, the Fleet went cold offensively failing to score a basket for over a five minute stretch allowing Mt. Olive to cut the lead to a point at 26-25 with two minutes remaining in the half.  Sophomore Jana Dixon (Conyers, GA, Heritage High School) snapped the Fleet scoring drought putting back Morgan’s miss but Mt. Olive’s Joneiqua Gray tied the game with a 3-point basket on their ensuing possession to tie the game at 30-30.  Working the clock, Erskine’s Lindsey Weidenaar (Evans, GA, Lakeside High School) hit a last second jumper from behind the arc to give the Fleet the 33-30 lead entering the locker room.

The Trojans opened the second half by reclaiming the lead for the first time since the early moments of the first half on back-to-back baskets by Gray and Tamara Nesmith.  The lead exchanged hands eight more times over the next ten minutes.   With 8:29 left, Andrea Jones hit a jumper to put Mount Olive College up for good at 51-50. 

Although Mt. Olive never trailed again, the game outcome remained in doubt until the final minute.  With just under three minutes left, Erskine’s Sha'Niqua Whitley (Columbia, SC, Ridge View High School) drilled a 3-point shot to pull the Fleet within a point at 59-58.  Erskine stopped Mt. Olive on their next two possessions but could not convert on the offensive end missing their last four shots of the game.  Mount Olive won the game 63-58, scoring their last two points on free throws as Erskine was forced to foul.

Morgan (Columbus, GA, LaGrange Academy) earned her first “double-double” of the season in her final game with 15 points and an impressive 10 assists.  Morgan concludes her career second in scoring and assists.  Whitley added 11 points while sophomore Rosa Powell (Lilburn, GA, Brookwood High School) came off the bench to hit a season-high five 3-point shots for 15 points.

Jones led the Trojans’ with a game-high 16 points while Nesmith added 14 points. 

Box Score