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Leslie Mathis leads SM women to conference win over Tuscola
Leslie Mathis scored 21 points as Smoky Mountain held off Tuscola for a 61-59 Mountain Athletic Conference women's basketball victory over Tuscola on Dec. 14 at the SM gym.
Cetera DeGraffenreid and Kristine Webb scored 19 and 16 points, respectively, for the Lady Mustangs. Webb also had 12 rebounds and five blocks.
Ameka Buchanan was the top rebounder with 13.
Smoky Mountain's Ameka Buchanan (40) passes the ball to Kelli Woodard in last week's 61-59 victory. – Herald photo by Carey Phillips
Jessie Bryant poured in 32 points for the Lady Mountaineers, and Dani Silvers had 13.
SM played five minutes of the second quarter and all but 18 seconds of the fourth period without DeGraffenreid, who was in foul trouble most of the night. With the superstar sophomore point guard on the bench, Mathis helped her team pull out the win.
She scored 16 points, including seven after DeGraffenreid went to the bench, in the first half then made three of four foul shots in the last 26 seconds.
"We overcame some adversity, but hopefully this will make us a better team down the road," Coach Cindi Simmons said. "Leslie and Kristine both stepped up and held us together."
Webb scored all of SM's points in an 8-2 run to start the fourth quarter for a 55-43 lead with 5:57 on the clock. However, the Lady Mustangs would not score a field goal the rest of the game.
Bryant's nine points sparked a 12-1 run bringing the Lady Mounties within 56-55 at the 2:21 mark.
By then DeGraffenreid had fouled out after playing just 18 seconds in the fourth quarter.
SM's Amy Haggard stemmed the tide by making two free throws with 1:24 to play, but Silvers answered at the 1:10 mark making it 58-57.
The Lady Mustangs ran the clock down to 26.4 seconds before Mathis was fouled and made both shots.
Bryant's 15-footer hit it a 60-59 game with 12 seconds to go.
Mathis made one of two foul shots with 9.2 seconds left.
Tuscola missed a three-pointer to win and a two-pointer to tie in the closing seconds.
Even though the Lady Mustangs got off to a slow start by missing their first 10 field goal tries, they were tied 4-4 when they connected from the floor for the first time as DeGraffenreid's three-pointer made it 4-4 with just under three minutes elapsed.
Mathis and DeGraffenreid both had six points in a 12-2 spurt for an 18-12 lead with 1:05 on the clock. SM was up 18-16 at the quarter break.
Silvers' six points keyed a 10-2 spurt as the Lady Mounties moved in front 33-28 with 1:36 to go in the half. They led 36-32 at intermission.
The Lady Mustangs scored the second half's first eight pints, including four by DeGraffenreid, to claim a 40-36 edge after Webb's basket with 4:50 to go in the third stanza.
SM was up 47-43 entering the fourth quarter.
The teams combined to attempt 78 free throws. The Lady Mustangs were 22 of 40, but taking away Mathis' contribution, the rest of the team was only 13 of 38. Tuscola was 21 of 38.
SM made just 31.6 percent of its field goal tries.
Mathis made five field goals, including two treys, and nine of 12 foul shots. DeGraffenreid hit five field goals, including a trey, and eight free throws. Webb's points came on seven field goals and two foul shots.
Haggard finished with four points, and Laury Brown had one.
The Lady Mustang JVs also had to hold off a rally to win 54-49. They led at quarter breaks by scores of 13-12, 31-20 and 50-33.
Cayla Cucumber and Natasha Crowe scored 17 and 16 points, respectively.
"We played a really good team game," Coach Kim Hardy said. "Kayla Cooper picked up the momentum at the end when we needed it."
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