Mount Olive women go west

Published in Sports on January 23, 2004 2:17 PM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- The Mount Olive College women's basketball team is looking to regain its early-season momentum. The Trojans will take on a team this weekend that may have found its momentum.

Mount Olive hopes to get back above the .500 mark Saturday as the Trojans head to Banner Elk to take on Lees-McRae in Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference women's basketball. Tip-off is at 2 p.m.

Mount Olive (6-6 overall, 3-3 CVAC) is coming off a 74-67 loss at home Monday against Belmont Abbey. The Trojans took an early seven-point lead, but a 20-3 run midway through the first half put Belmont Abbey ahead to stay. Ladora Charles led four players in double figures with 20 points. Charles, who enters Saturday's game as the leading scorer in the CVAC, has scored in double figures in 10 of her 12 games this season and has reached the 20-point mark seven times. She's averaging 18.3 points per contest.

Latoria Harvey continues to average a double-double with 14.6 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. She has nine double-doubles for the season, including seven in her last eight games. Teneal Boone is averaging 11.0 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. She also ranks third in the CVAC in blocked shots with 1.8 per game. Tanika Hudgins is coming off a season-high 16 points against Belmont Abbey. Hudgins has reached double figures six times this season, including three of her last four games.

The Trojans won their first two conference games, but now have lost three of their last four. Two of the losses were by seven points or less.

Lees-McRae (6-7, 3-3) enters Saturday's game on a four-game winning streak, including three consecutive conference wins. The Bobcats defeated Limestone 79-64 Monday to even their conference record after starting 0-3 in conference play.

Lees-McRae won both games against Mount Olive last year, defeating the Trojans 83-63 at College Hall and winning 72-63 at Banner Elk.

Lees-McRae will be the Trojans' second opponent in eight days to enter the game with three consecutive wins in conference play. Last Friday, Mount Olive defeated Erskine 70-54 to end their three-game conference winning streak. Coincidentally, Lees-McRae's last defeat was a 73-58 loss to Erskine.