The Covenant women's basketball team mounted a late rally, but could not overcome host Meredith as the Avenging Angels defeated the Scots 62-56 on Saturday afternoon in USA South action.
Covenant trailed the entire game, and by as much as 21 in the second half, but would not quit down the stretch as they slowly whittled away at the Meredith lead. The loss drops the Scots to 5-12 on the season and 2-8 in league play, while Meredith improves to 5-8 overall and 3-4 in the USA South.
Jessie Blankenship saw her remarkable string of nine consecutive double-doubles come to an end as she fell one rebound shy of her 10th straight. Blankenship finished with 15 points and nine rebounds to go with three assists and four steals. Haley Soles scored 12 points and dished out a team-high five assists. Morgan Woodward added 10 points.
Meredith was led in scoring by McKenzi Edwards' 23 points and five assists. Edwards was 6-of-11 from the field and 11-of-11 from the free throw line as the Avenging Angels made 18-of-22 from the charity stripe. Kim Hinton tallied nine points and seven rebounds.
The Avenging Angels built a double digit lead in the first half as Covenant struggled shooting. Meredith went on a 16-5 scoring run over the span of several minutes in the opening period and boasted a 36-17 lead at the half.
The lead continued to grow in the second half for Meredith as they took a 21-point edge at 41-20 with 14:59 remaining. Covenant managed to slice the deficit to eight at 54-46 with 1:56 left after a Woodward layup. The Scots would make it a five-point game just moments later when Blankenship made a layup, off an assist from Soles, with 1:36 to go.
Meredith knocked down 8-of-10 free throws in the final minute-and-a-half of the contest to thwart the Covenant rally and seal the victory.
Covenant will return home on Wednesday, Jan. 29 for a tilt with Piedmont. Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m. inside Barnes Physical Education Center.