YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. | Jenny Vernet scored 15 points and pulled down a career-high 15 rebounds as Young Harris College opened up Peach Belt Conference play with a 63-48 women's basketball victory over Armstrong State University Thursday (Dec. 17) at the YHC Basketball Arena.
                                                  
The Mountain Lions improved to 6-2 overall and to 1-0 in the league while the Pirates slipped to 8-2 and 0-1. Young Harris continues its homestand Saturday (Dec. 19) with a 1:30 p.m. PBC encounter against Flagler College.
 
"That was an all-out effort by our team," said YHC head coach Matt Stearsman. "We had ladies diving on the floor, into the bleachers, that was fun to watch. When you can hold a team to 48 points, you can win a lot of games. I couldn't be happier with this group of young people."
 
Young Harris scored the final six points of the first quarter to open up a 19-13 lead on a Vernet layup. The Mountain Lions pushed their advantage out to 10 points three different times in the second quarter as Brianna Bell connected on a jumper with 48 seconds remaining before halftime to give Young Harris a 33-23 lead.
 
Armstrong held Young Harris to just two points in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter as the Pirates used a 10-2 run to close within two points (35-33) on a B'Kiya Webb layup. However, the Mountain Lions didn't bend as they only allowed the Pirates three points the remainder of the quarter as Young Harris led 42-36 after Jasmine Knight hit a three-pointer with three seconds left.
 
Young Harris opened up a double-digit lead (54-44) on a Meredith Tarver layup with 1:34 to play. The Mountain Lions salted the game away from the free throw line as they hit nine of their 10 attempts in the final 70 seconds.
 
Tarver added 14 points in the win for the Mountain Lions and was one of three YHC players to grab nine rebounds as Young Harris held a 54-32 margin on the glass. Bell finished with 12 points while Jasmine Knight tallied nine points and nine rebounds while Sarah Garner added nine rebounds.
 
Shermika Harris led the Pirated with 17 points while Brigitta Barta, who is three points shy of 1,000 in her career, added 10 points and seven rebounds. Webb led ASU with eight rebounds.