Matt Barker, Sports Information Director

HENDERSON, Tenn. - Lady Lion sophomore Kim Mallory had one of her best outings of the season Saturday as she put up 19 points and pulled down an impressive 15 rebounds in the Lady Lions 62-52 victory over Blue Mountain (Miss.) College at the Brewer Sports Center.

Although FHU (6-3, 1-1 AMC) shot just 31 percent from the field in the game compared to Blue Mountain (1-7, 1-1 SSAC), who shot 42 percent, the Lady Lions were able to force an impressive 18 turnovers to keep the lead for a majority of the game. Kim Mallory led the Lady Lions in total offense with a double-double, but she was not alone as Erika Zurauskaite would contribute a double-double of her own with 10 points and 14 rebounds.

Kenley Crowell had one of her best shooting nights of the season as she went 3-for-7 from behind the arc and finished with 15 points and three assists. Taleeah Cross continued her strong play and nearly joined Mallory and Zurauskaite with a double-double performance as she had eight points and nine rebounds in the contest.

Jasmine Allen led Blue Mountain in total offense with 16 points while Matavia Cox followed close behind as she went 5-for-9 from the field and finished with 13 points. Andrea Lewis also contributed on the offensive end with 10 points and five rebounds. The Toppers shot 45 percent from the field in the first half and 40 percent in the second half to keep the matchup tight the entire way.

The Lady Lions would open the game with a 6-0 scoring run as Blue Mountain struggled to stop the one-two punch of Zurauskaite and Crowell as they combined for 14 of FHU's 16 points in the first quarter. Zurauskaite finished the quarter with eight points while Crowell followed close behind with six.

Blue Mountain would open the second quarter with a 4-0 run to even up the score at 16 apiece as it took the Lady Lions over three minutes to score their first bucket in the second quarter. However, the Lady Lions would finish the quarter better than they started it as Kenley Crowell and Taleeah Cross would combine for 10 of the next 14 points following the scoring drought to give FHU the 31-27 lead entering the half.

The second half would belong to Kim Mallory as she would explode on the offensive end and score 15 of her 19 points in the second half alone. With the help of Mallory, the Lady Lions would reach their largest lead of the game at 13. The Toppers would attempt to make a late push as they would go on a 5-0 run to tighten the Lady Lion lead to eight with 4:02 remaining. However, FHU would have an answer as they out-shot Blue Mountain 7-4 in the final four minutes to pick up the 62-52 victory.

With the win, the Lady Lions move to 6-3 on the season.

UP NEXT: The Lady Lions will return to conference play on Tuesday, December 15 as they travel to Park (Mo.) University for a 5:30 PM matchup in Parkville, Mo.

NEWS AND NOTES: Lady Lion junior Taleeah Cross was honored prior to Saturday's matchup for joining the 1,000 career point club. Cross surpassed the 1,000 career points mark in FHU's matchup at Bethel (Tenn.) University on November 24. Cross has led the Lady Lions in scoring all season long with 122 points throughout the first nine games.