MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. | Georgia College used a quick start to defeat Young Harris College 68-54 in a Peach Belt Conference women's basketball game Saturday (Feb. 11) afternoon at the Centennial Center.

The Bobcats improved to 14-8 overall and to 8-7 in the Peach Belt, while the Mountain Lions fell to 8-14 and 4-11. Young Harris plays its final road game of the season Wednesday (Feb. 15) with a 5:30 p.m. encounter against Clayton State University in Morrow, Georgia.

"We played a great second half," said YHC head coach Matt Stearsman. "We really competed. The first quarter put us in a position where we had to fight and we got it close a couple times. However, we just ran out of gas trying to catch up. Really proud of the fight we had today."

Georgia College, which led the entire game, used nine unanswered points midway through the first quarter to open up an 18-7 lead on a Alyah McGriff layup with 1:33 to go. The Mountain Lions used a 6-0 run to get within five (23-18) after a three-pointer and free throw by Briana Bell with 8:47 remaining before halftime. The Bobcats then responded with a 12-2 run near the end of the quarter to take a 37-22 lead on a McGriff layup with 50 seconds left. 

In the second half, the Mountain Lions responded with seven unanswered points to get within six points (47-41) on a Meghan McQuade three-pointer with 2:29 to go in the third quarter, but Georgia College scored the final five points of the quarter to take a 52-41 lead into the fourth quarter. 

The closest Young Harris would get the remainder of the way was seven points (54-47) on an old-fashioned three-point play from Jenny Vernet with 7:35 remaining in the game.

Meredith Tarver led the Mountain Lions with 18 points with McQuade, who hit four three-pointers, close behind with a career-high 14 points. Briana Bell grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, while Bell and Vernet each score seven points.

McGriff led GC with 18 points, while Sydney Cleveland added 14 and Brianna Davis posted 12.