PEMBROKE – The UNCP women's basketball team shot better than 40 percent from 3-point territory en route to defeating Peach Belt Conference rival Flagler, 64-50, on Saturday afternoon at the English E. Jones Center.

UNCP (12-14, 6-11 PBC) splits the regular-season series with Flagler (13-11, 10-8) and improves to 6-2 in the all-time series with the Lady Saints. 

Jazmine Kemp led a trio of UNCP athletes who finished in double digits with 16 points, while Courtney Bolton and Amelia Partin contributed 15 points and 14 points, respectively. Partin led the Black and Gold perimeter effort, connecting on 4-of-10 buckets from downtown. On the defensive side of the ball, Taylor Gallentine pulled down a team-best 10 rebounds and Kemp added another nine boards.

Flagler relied on the 20-point performance from Williesha Spencer, who was 8-of21 from the floor and 3-of-3 from the charity strip. Christina Brown chipped in 10 points of 5-of-12 shooting. The Lady Saints were led by Shelbi Lindsey on defense with nine rebounds and Treva Mason who added six rebounds. 

The back-and-forth battle saw six lead changes, two ties and over 40 turnovers. Both teams capitalized on turnovers, with Flagler scoring 17 points on turnovers and UNCP totaling 10 points off turnovers. The Lady Braves outscored the Lady Saints, 24-18 in the paint, and out-rebounded Flagler, 38-33.

"Our girls did a good job, they hung in there and I thought they did the best they could to fight through being tired. We told the girls before the game, if we're going to win the game we're going to win on defense and rebounds, and I thought we did a pretty good on both of those things," said UNCP head coach John Haskins. 

UNCP entered the second half with a nine-point lead and stayed ahead of the Lady Saints for the remaining 20 minutes. The Lady Braves opened up the second half with a 10-2 run sparked by layup from Bolton, stretching the UNCP lead to 18 at 40-22. With less than ten minutes remaining, a layup from Brown cut Flagler's deficit to single digits, 46-37. A jumper from Kemp would lead to another UNCP surge, as the Lady Braves scored six quick points to take a 52-37 advantage over the Lady Saints. UNCP shot better than 50 percent from the field in the second half to finish with a 64-50 decision over Flagler.

The Lady Braves started the game with a 5-0 run, before Flagler took the lead after a jumper by Mason. The Lady Saints stayed in control until consecutive made free throws from Partin tied the game up, 14-14. After back-to-back free throws from Kierra Haney, UNCP took the lead 18-16, and scored 10 unanswered points to take a 12 point lead, 28-16. Flagler outscored the Lady Braves, 4-2 in the final two minutes, but UNCP would ride a 29-20 lead into the intermission. 

The Black and Gold will be back in action on Wednesday as the Lady Braves travel south on I-95 for a contest with PBC for Francis Marion (11-12, 5-11) at 5:30 p.m. inside of the Smith University Center.

To watch the full game click HERE.