BRISTOL, Tenn. – As was expected coming in, the tilt between a pair of the Conference Carolinas leaders would be a tight affair, and the King University women's basketball team came up on the short end against league-leading Limestone College. The Tornado held a sizable advantage in the first half, but the Saints used a strong fourth quarter to take the 58-55 victory.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Limestone 58, King 55
LOCATION: Student Center Complex; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 16-6, 13-3 Conference Carolinas; Limestone 19-3, 15-1 Conference Carolinas

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The opening stanza was tight as the teams tried to figure out how their opponent would play the contest.
• King used a 7-1 run, started by an Ashley Albertson jump shot to take a 10-9 lead. Kristen Cupples followed with a bucket and Demisha Porter gave King the lead with a free throw.
• Cupples scored the final basket of the opening frame, giving the Tornado a 12-11 lead after one.
• Limestone took a 15-12 lead early in the second quarter before the King offense started clicking.
• Cupples knocked down a pair of triples to put King ahead, and following a Danielle Luczak layup, Whitney Mitchell drilled a trifecta that put King ahead 26-15.
• Mitchell capped the 14-0 run with an old fashioned three-point play, giving King a 29-15 advantage with three minutes remaining until halftime.
• In all, King closed the quarter on a 17-4 run, only allowing one field goal in the final nine minutes of the period and three field goals in the quarter to give King a 32-19 advantage.
• Mitchell gave the Tornado their largest lead of the game, 15 points, for the second time in the contest as her free throw gave King a 36-21 lead in the opening minutes of the third quarter.
• However, the Saints then went on a run, scoring 17 of the next 19 points, including 10 straight to even the contest at 38 with four minutes remaining in the third quarter.
• On the possession after the Saints evened the tally, Sheen Jonson connected on a triple, giving the momentum back to the Tornado.
• Mitchell followed with back-to-back trifectas before the Saints scored the final bucket of the period, but King led 47-40 going to the fourth quarter.
• Limestone scored the first six points of the final quarter, but Johnson gave King a 50-46 lead with a triple two minutes in.
• However, Limestone scored eight straight points to take a 54-50 lead with six minutes remaining.
• The Saint lead grew to 58-51 before King got back on the board. Albertson pulled King within six with a free throw, and Harper nailed her only three-point basket of the game with 1:41 remaining to cut the King deficit to 58-55.
• Nevertheless, the Limestone defense dug in and didn't allow another King bucket as they escaped with the 58-55 victory.
• Mitchell led King with 18 points, going 4-for-7 from three-point range.
• Cupples followed with 10 points while Luczak led King with five rebounds.

FOR THE FOES

• Jasmine Kearse led Limestone with 15 points and eight assists.
• Taylour Hunter added 10 points and Keidra Smith chipped in with nine points and 11 rebounds.

UP NEXT

• King stays at home to face Erskine College on Tuesday night. Tipoff from the Student Center Complex is slated for 5:30 p.m.
• Limestone hosts North Greenville University on Tuesday.