ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Mary Robinson hit the back end of a two-shot foul to give the UNC Pembroke women's basketball team a six-point lead with 3:36 left to play, but Flagler scored the game's final eight points to grab a key 60-58 Peach Belt Conference victory over the Braves on Saturday afternoon.
The setback dropped the Braves (8-11, 3-9 PBC) to 1-8 in road games this season, while also handing the Black & Gold its third-straight loss of four points or less. It was the third win in the last four outings for the Saints (10-9, 6-6) who have now won three of the last four in the series with UNCP as well.
Jonissa Monley poured in a team-best 19 points and pulled down eight rebounds to pace the Braves. Jasmine Huntley tallied 13 points, four assists and five boards for the visitors as well, while Robinson and Avery Locklear both added 10.
Teosha Ray tacked up a game-best 21 points for Flagler who bested its guest 15-8 on second chance points. Elise Spann came off the bench to score 14 points for the Saints as well, while Alex Alford added 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting.
UNCP shot better than 45 percent in the third quarter and led by as much as seven points, 46-39, after a layup by Monley with 2:18 to play in the period, but Spann's 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter brought the Saints to within one point, 52-51. Robinson's free throw at the 3:18 mark gave the visitors a six-point edge, but the Black & Gold missed its final four shots of the contest and turned the ball over five times, allowing Flagler to end the game on an 8-0 run.
Flagler led by as many as five points in the opening quarter, but the Braves hung around for much of the first half and grabbed their first lead of the game, 22-20, on a 3-pointer by Huntley with 4:45 left before the intermission. Monley's layup with 22 seconds remaining in the second quarter helped UNCP stake claim to a 28-25 advantage, but Ray nailed a 3-pointer with three ticks left to make it a tie game heading into the locker rooms.
The Braves will open up a short two-game homestand on Wednesday when they suit up to battle PBC East rival USC Aiken (8-13, 3-9) in the front half of a 5:30 p.m. Military Appreciation Night doubleheader at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court.