Converse Falls to Belmont Abbey, 96-72

Converse let a halftime tie end up in a devastating loss with Belmont Abbey outscoring the All-Stars 52-28 in the second half.

Belmont Abbey was forced to use their perimeter to generate their offense in the first half, while Converse stayed in the game by pounding the ball inside to sophomore center Lauren Mueller and senior center Melissa Bunce, who combined for 26 points in the first half on 11 of 13 shooting. There were seven lead changes and ten ties, with the last one coming off of a three from Crusader Jeannette Johansson, to send the teams to the locker room tied at 44.

Despite three lead changes in the second half, the All-Stars just couldn’t stay in the game, and the Crusaders went on several runs scoring 12 to take the lead 66-54. Converse battled back and got within 10 at 68-58 but the Crusaders went on an eight point run to lead 76-58 and were never really threatened again after that.

The All-Stars were lead by Lauren Mueller who had 22 points and eight rebounds, while Melissa Bunce finished with 19 points and Melissa Ballard added 15. Converse, now 2-6, will host Carson Newman on December 3 at 7pm.