CULLOWHEE, N.C. | The Young Harris College women's basketball team used a 17-5 run to start the second half en route to a 67-59 exhibition victory over NCAA Division I's Western Carolina University Friday (Nov. 11) evening at the Ramsey Center.

The Mountain Lions will tip of their 2016-17 schedule Wednesday (Nov. 16) when they entertain Lee University in a 5:30 p.m. non-conference game at the YHC Basketball Arena.

YHC led 32-30 at the half. After layup by JonTay Mitchem for the Catamounts tied the game at 32, the Mountain Lions scored the next eight points - a layup from Jenny Vernet and back-to-back three-pointers from Bria Ratliff and Briana Bell - to open up a 40-32 lead with 6:51 remaining in the third quarter.

After a three-point play by Emily Hatfield trimmed the lead to five (40-35), Young Harris, which led the game for all but 55 seconds, used a 9-0 run to open up its largest lead of the game - 14 points (49-35) - on a Meredith Tarver layup with 2:07 to go.

Western Carolina got as close as five points (63-58) on a Hatfield free throw with 1:41 remaining, but the Mountain Lions hit four free throws down the stretch to hold off the Catamounts.

"We struggled with the mental side of the game tonight," said YHC head coach Matt Stearsman. "We had a couple chances to put them away and we allowed them to get back in it by making mental mistakes. On the bright side, we shot it well and we played extremely hard. When it got a little crazy, we kept defending, which is what good teams do. I'm really proud of our team."

Young Harris shot 49.0 percent (25-of-51) from the floor, including 57.1 percent (8-of-14) from three-point range. Bell led all scorers with 28 points as she hit nine of her 11 attempts from the floor, including all five from long distance. Tarver finished with 13 points while Vernet nearly had a double double with 11 rebounds and nine points.