MARYVILLE, Tenn. --- A late rally fell short Friday as the Lynchburg College women's basketball team was defeated by Birmingham-Southern University 56-50 In the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament, hosted by Maryville College. It was the first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history for the Hornets.

LC trailed by 15 points with less than three minutes to play, before junior guard Charmaine Hairston put on a scoring display. A quick three-pointer and two jumpers inside the three-point line cut the Panther lead to 52-44. A B-SC basket from three-point distance seemingly put the game out of reach, but Hairston answered with another trey to close the gap to eight with under 50 seconds left. Birmingham-Southern struggled from the free-throw line late, but not enough time remained for the Hornets to overtake B-SC.

Hairston tied her season high with 19 points, hitting 4-of-7 attempts from three-point land. Senior forward Chaney Forbush tallied eight points, a game-high 13 rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots, while junior guard Sarah Coronel posted five points, seven rebounds and three assists. Senior guard Sammi Goldsmith added five points, four assists and three rebounds.

Jasmynn Batts scored a game-high 21 points for Birmingham-Southern (25-3), to go along with five rebounds. Yorisha Bryant contributed 16 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots while shooting 8-of-14 from the floor.

Birmingham-Southern jumped out to a 9-4 lead midway through the first period, but a 6-2 LC surge, with two baskets coming from senior forward Sarah Coon, trimmed the advantage to 11-10. B-SC led 13-10 after one quarter.

Sophomore guard Olivia DeFrancesco drilled a three-pointer in the first minute of the second period to tie the score at 13, and the two defenses dominated the rest of the stanza. The Panthers entered halftime ahead 19-17.

B-SC started the second half out hot from distance, drilling four three-pointers in a 14-2 run to open the third period and forge a 33-19 edge. DeFrancesco nailed a three-pointer in the final 30 seconds of the third, cutting the lead to 43-30.

Lynchburg ends the season with a program-record 24-5 record. The program's three seniors; Forbush, Goldsmith and Coon finish their LC careers with a 77-35 record and the first Old Dominion Athletic Conference title and NCAA Tournament berth in school history.

--- This release is courtesy of the Lynchburg College sports information department. ---
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