SAVANNAH, Ga. – A second-half surge from home standing Armstrong led the Pirates to a 72-56 victory over the UNC Pembroke women's basketball team on Thursday evening in the Alumni Arena.

"We got off to a good start offensively, we were getting the ball to the post and we made some shots. We also played pretty solid defense in the first half. In the second half they just came out and shot the ball well, and we missed some easy shots. We didn't play well offensively, and they did. There were times we didn't play well, but I thought we competed hard throughout the whole game," said UNCP head coach John Haskins.

UNCP (6-11, 2-8 PBC) opened the night with a made shot from Kamille Horne that led to a 7-0 run. The Lady Braves saw their biggest lead after Kierra Haney made good on the three-point play to bring the score to 19-10. Armstrong (10-6, 5-5) worked its way back into the game, tying the score at 26-26 with less than two minutes before halftime, but a basket from Jonissa Monley with 10 seconds to go gave the Black and Gold a slight two-point halftime advantage.

The Pirates (10-6, 5-5 PBC) came back in the second frame by shooting 53.3 percent (16-for-30) from the floor to outscore the Lady Braves (6-11, 2-8), 46-28. Three-consecutive 3-point buckets gave Armstrong a 35-31 lead a little over a minute into the second half and the Pirates would hang on to their lead until the final buzzer. Armstrong stretched its advantage to double-digits after a jump shot from Bryonna Davis at the 11:19 mark, and closed out the game on a jumper from Morgan Mitchell with seven seconds left on the clock.

Horne paced the Lady Braves, going 5-for-9 from the field, including 3-for-6 from the perimeter, to total 14 points. UNCP got another 11 points from Haney, while Katelyn Mitchell added nine points to the losing effort. Jazmine Kemp pulled down a game-best 10 boards and dished out four assists for the offense. 

Armstrong relied on the brace of four double-figures scoring nights, including the 21-point performance of Bryonna Davis. Coming off the bench for the Pirates, Dee Hayward and Brigitta Barta tallied 15 points and 11 points, respectively. Rounding out the double-digit scorers was Amber Howell with 11 points. Howell finished the night going 7-for-10 (70 percent) from the charity stripe.

The Lady Braves look to rebound and snap their three-game losing streak at home on Saturday when they host GRU Augusta in the English E. Jones Center. Tip is set for 1:30 p.m. in the front half of a UNCP basketball double header. Saturday is Faith and Family Day where church and tribal organizations can receive $2 tickets.