ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. – Piedmont women’s basketball used a fourth quarter rally to take down N.C. Wesleyan for a key road win on Sunday afternoon in Rocky Mount.
One day after the offense struggled in a close loss to Southern Virginia, the Lions were up to the task down the stretch on Sunday, winning a back-and-forth battle that came down to the final minute.
For the second consecutive game and the fourth time in the last five games, Andelin Hill delivered a double double, with a career-high 22 points while tying her season high of 13 rebounds. Nae-Nae Eades also reached double figures off the bench for the second straight contest, scoring 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Hayley Borino tallied 11 points, including knocking down multiple clutch free throws in the final minutes.
On the defensive end, Alexandria Willis made her presence felt, delivering a career-best seven blocks in the game.
After a closely contested opening half, the Battling Bishops trailed by as many as six points midway through the third quarter. However, the Lions were unable to put them away, with N.C. Wesleyan using a 14-6 run late in the quarter to take a two-point edge into the final quarter.
However, Piedmont quickly erased that deficit with a layup by Hill and then an and-one by Eades to give the Lions a 52-49 lead.
Then, after the Battling Bishops took a 57-55 with 6:44 left, Ashley Scott answered with back-to-back three-pointers on consecutive possessions, turning a two-point deficit into a four-point lead. Those were the only two three-point field goals of the afternoon for the Lions.
Although N.C. Wesleyan was able to tie the score on two occasions, it was never able to retake the lead as Hill gave Piedmont the lead for good with a layup with 1:19 left. Borino then followed by scoring the final five points of the game on a layup and three free throws to close out the win.
Up next, the Lions will be back in action starting n 2025, taking on Emory on January 2 at 4 p.m. in Atlanta.
TURNING POINT:
– With the score tied at 63 in the final two minutes, Piedmont closed the game with a 7-2 run to take the win.
STANDOUT PERFORMANCES:
– Hill delivered yet another outstanding performance, scoring a career-high 22 points with a season-high 13 rebounds on 11-of-13 shooting.
– Eades was an efficient 5-of-6 from the field, delivering 13 points off the bench.
– Borino was clutch at the free throw line, scoring 9 of her 11 points from the stripe, totaling 9-of-10 on the day.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
– Piedmont was efficient on the offensive end, shooting 52% for the game.
