
University of Mount Olive’s Haleigh Cruse, 4, draws a blocking foul against Livingstone’s Andresia Alexander during play at Kornegay Arena on Saturday afternoon.|(Rudy Coggins/mountolivetribune.com)
Kornegay Arena is like the Bates Motel.Opponents check in, but they rarely escape in victorious fashion.
Such was the case Saturday afternoon.
Laila Harris pumped in a team- and game-high 16 points to lead the University of Mount Olive women’s basketball team past in-state foe Livingstone College, 74-48.
The Trojans claimed their 12th home win in their last 14 outings and picked up their 55th victory overall since 2017.
“I liked the first half … liked our defensive effort and sharing of the basketball, which I thought we moved well,” UMO head coach Wendy Lee said. “We found some people open [and] got some easy buckets around the rim off of turnovers. The first half gave us a lot of momentum.”
Fueled by its defense, UMO forced a season-high 24 turnovers and converted the extra opportunities into 33 points. Lee’s team led by 12 after one quarter and extended the margin to 22 by halftime.
Livingstone (2-3 overall) had more turnovers (15) than made field goals (10) during the opening half.
The second half was a different story.
The Blue Bears made a subtle defensive change that caused Lee a little angst. Instead of attacking the zone, the Trojans lost focus and took shots early during their possessions.
“When you go from pressure, pressure, pressure and you’re not open to all of a sudden they go zone and now it looks like I’m open, you’re going to naturally feel like it’s a good open look to take,” Lee said. “But we haven’t made the zone work, haven’t moved the ball, haven’t gotten rebounders in position and we’re not using the shot clock.
“We didn’t adjust to that the entire third quarter.”
Yet, Livingstone never threatened.
Despite its offensive troubles, UMO tallied 29 points on nine field goals and nine free throws in the second half.
Kaia Simpson provided 15 points on 6 of 11 shooting from the floor. Senior Makayla Kimble contributed 12 points in 24 minutes off the bench, while newcomer Reagan Hunt dropped in 10 points.
The Trojans return home Wednesday for a Conference Carolinas doubleheader with Chowan University. The women tip off at 5 p.m. followed 30 minutes later by the men.