HILLSBOROUGH — Lauren Cates pumped in 17 points and Mary Moss Wirt added 12 more as Orange pulled away from Northwood in the fourth quarter for a 52-46 victory in 3A Big Eight Conference girl’s basketball action on Tuesday night in Hillsborough.
Northwood dropped to 5-5 in the league with the loss and to 11-9 overall while Orange improved to 7-3 in the Big Eight and to 15-5 overall.
“Much like the first game with them, we had a shot and couldn’t make the plays down the stretch,” said NW coach Cameron Vernon. “It was a tough loss, we are right on the bubble of making the playoffs, and every game is important now.”
Orange grabbed an early 16-11 lead behind a pair of three pointers from Wirt and another from Cates in the first quarter.
Northwood methodically began to rally, using four points from the paint from Chandler Adams in the second to take a 13-8 advantage in the period and tie the game at 24-all at the half.
Adams would score four more in a low scoring third as the two teams collected eight points apiece to enter the fourth tied at 32-32.
Cates would score two quick buckets to begin the fourth on the way to eight in the stanza, and Wirt chipped in a trey and a field goal to pull away for the win.