PEMBROKE – Led by a trio of athletes scoring double-figures, Young Harris downed the UNCP women's basketball team, 57-49, on Thursday night in Peach Belt Conference action inside of the English E. Jones Center.

Tonight's matchup marked the first time UNCP (10-13, 4-10 PBC) and Young Harris (13-9, 7-8) have ever met on the court. The setback marked the third-straight loss for the Lady Braves, dropping the Black and Gold to fifth in the PBC East standings.

"It's a disappointing loss for us, I didn't feel like we played very well. They've got a good point guard, and she makes them better. They shot the ball well, but I don't think we did a very good job chasing them. On the flip side though, we did some decent things offensively, we just have to finish. Execution-wise we did some good things, we just didn't finish plays and we weren't aggressive enough," said UNCP head coach John Haskins. 

Kamille Horne was the only member of the Lady Braves to score in double-digits, finising with 11 points on the night. Jazmine Kemp, along with Courtney Bolton and Taylor Gallentine, contributed 8 points apiece to the UNCP offense. Kemp dished out four assists, as well as pulling down a team-best eight boards. 

The Mountain Lions were led by Lauren Smith who recorded a game-high 20 points on 6-of-17 shooting from the floor. Breanna Gleeson and Keta Robinette each scored in double-digits, totaling 14 points and 12 points, respectively. Gleeson shot 50 percent from 3-point territory. The other two members of the Young Harris starting five, Peyton Robertson and Shereese Williams, tallied a team-best nine rebounds each. 

UNCP entered the second half with a slight six-point advantage over Young Harris. The Mountain Lion perimeter attack was on point in the final 20 minutes of play, as Young Harris hit 7-of-11 (63.6 percent) 3-point shots in the second half. Robertson made good on the three-point play to giving Young Harris the lead, which they kept for the reaminder of the half. Gallentine drained a trey cutting the deficit to two, 44-42, but the Mountain Lions answered right back with a trey from Robinette. Back-to-back triples gave Young Harris a nine-point advantage, 53-44, with less than three minutes on the clock. The Mountain Lions made four free throws to end the game with the 57-49 decision. 

A layup from Jasmine Hairston sparked a UNCP run to start off the game, as the Lady Braves took an 11-4 lead over Young Harris early on. Smith made good on consecutive free throws to tie the game up, 17-17, before a layup from Kaycee Cash and a 3-point bucket from Gleeson game Young Harris the 22-17 edge. UNCP would score the next seven points to pull ahead of the Mountain Lions, 24-22, just before the intermission.

The Lady Braves will return to the court on Saturday as the host PBC foe North Georgia (9-13, 7-8) in the front half of a double header with tip set for 1:30 p.m. at the English E. Jones Center.

To watch the full game click HERE.