ST. AUGUSTINE —Jaziana Mathis led three Flagler College players in double figures with 18 points in a 75-59 loss to No. 14 (WBCA Division II Top 25) University of North Georgia in a Peach Belt Conference women's basketball game Friday afternoon at Flagler Gymnasium.
North Georgia improved to 8-1 overall and 2-0 in PBC play. Flagler dropped to 6-5 overall and 0-1 in conference play.
After a close first quarter, Flagler would use a strong second quarter to take a seven-point lead into the half.
Three minutes into the second quarter, a layup by Flagler's Amuk Tong, would knot things up at 22. Tong would give the Saints the lead a couple minutes later to start what would become a 15-8 run to close out the first half. During this stretch, Flagler had seven points from Taylor Gardner, four from Jaziana Mathis, and two from Tong and Tori Pearce.
The Nighthawks came out firing on all cylinders to begin the second half, going on a 12-2 run where they shot 44 percent and 75 percent from the charity stripe. Flagler continued to hang around, but would not be able to regain the lead.
"I thought we gave really good effort and focus in the first half," said head coach Mo Smith. "I told the team at halftime you have to play 40 minutes, especially versus a really good team like North Georgia. They hurt us inside, and overall made more winning plays than we did. We have to learn to play for 40 minutes and trust the game plan as well as each other."
Mathis opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back step-back jumpers, but the Saints could never get their offense going to keep pace with the Nighthawks. Pearce added 14, five rebounds, and five assists while Gardner tallied 12 points coming off the bench.
For North Georgia, five players scored in double figures. Julianne Sutton paced the offense with a game-high 22 points. Abbie Franklin added 15, Jamari McDavid posted 11 while Caroline Grant and Josie Earnhardt each contributed 10.
Flagler returns to action on Monday, when the Saints welcome Young Harris College to Flagler Gymnasium for a PBC matchup with tip-off slated for 1 p.m.
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