Limestone's defense propels Saints to conference tournament title

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CONCORD, N.C. – Behind a 16-point performance from tournament Most Outstanding Player Alicia Brookins, the Limestone College Saints won the Conference Carolinas Tournament powered by OrthoCarolina and claimed an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, defeating the University of Mount Olive 61-41.

Brookins’ game-high 16 points and eight rebounds were instrumental for the Saints (24-5), who led the game from start to finish. Brookins and Amber Wright combined to score Limestone’s first five points before Brookins picked up a quick second foul and spent most of the remainder of the half on the bench. But the Saints’ offense didn’t miss a beat, jumping out to a 20-6 lead 12 minutes into the contest and never letting up throughout.

Mount Olive (18-11) pulled to within 9-6 seven minutes into the game behind a Kirksten Mitchell triple and a jumper by Jasmine McDonald, who were both named to the all-conference tournament team. But Limestone responded with an 11-0 run over the next 4:26, with five field goals by five different shooters. When Ayshia McNeil nailed a jumped in the paint at the 8:34 mark of the first half, Limestone held a 14-point lead and would never see their advantage dwindle to less than ten points during the rest of the game.

While the Saints controlled the game with suffocating defense and timely shots that seemed to always stifle potential Trojans’ runs, the most deflating came midway through the second stanza. Mount Olive used a Joneiqua Gary three-point basket to pull within ten points with 11:15 to play, and the Trojans’ bench was lifted by the surge of momentum. Limestone again answered definitively, however, using a 17-2 run to build a 25-point advantage with three minutes to play and holding Mount Olive without a field goal until Katie Paschal’s layup with 1:27 remaining.

Although the Saints had three players reach double figures, the difference in the game was Limestone’s suffocating defense, which held Mount Olive to 21.8 percent shooting from the floor and 12 made field goals. The 41 points allowed were the second-fewest scored against the Saints all season, and Mount Olive had the second-lowest shooting percentage of any team to face Limestone. The Trojans shot just 11.1 percent from behind the arc and were limited to 12 points in the paint.
Gary led the Trojans with ten points, while Jasmine McDonald pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds and scored seven points. For Limestone, all-conference tournament selections Celestra Warren and Jasmine Kearse joined Brookins in double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Warren also had ten rebounds. The Saints scored 22 points off 16 Mount Olive turnovers while committing just eight of their own. Limestone also held a 26-12 advantage in points in the paint.

With the win, Limestone clinches Conference Carolinas’ automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and will await to hear their destination, which will be announced on NCAA.com on Sunday at 10:00 p.m.