Lady Bobcats hang on for Pink Game victory

On a day in which the Georgia Northwestern Lady Bobcats honored and celebrated the lives of those touched by breast cancer, the home team was also able to celebrate a victory of its own.

Playing in their annual Pink Game at the Rossville Athletic Center on Saturday, the Lady Bobcats got the gamewinning bucket by freshman Gracen Hobbs with 3.7 seconds left to score a 55-54 victory over the Royals of Johnson University (Tenn.).

Georgia Northwestern (8-12) led 30-22 at halftime behind 12 points from Tori Harvey. However, the Royals would fight back in the second half to tie the game and eventually take a 52-51 lead on a basket by Lori St. John with 1:01 left to play.

Harvey looked to answer by driving the lane, only to miss her shot. However, the sophomore was fouled after an offensive rebound and made both free throws to retake the lead for her team with 32 seconds remaining.

Hallie Hatcher would draw a blocking foul on the Lady Bobcats just five seconds later and made both free throws to put the Royals back in front by one, giving the Lady Bobcats one final possession with the shot clock turned off.

Georgia Northwestern took the clock down to 10 seconds before Hobbs penetrated the lane with a runner. Her shot careened off the iron, but the former LFO Lady Warrior hustled to get her own rebound and connected on a short baseline jumper to put her team back in front by a point.

Harvey would get a steal near midcourt, but lost the ball out of bounds, giving Johnson one final chance with 1.9 seconds to play. Hatcher would get decent look at a game-winning 3-pointer, but tight defense by Hobbs would result in a shot that completely missed its mark.

Harvey had a big game with 17 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, five steals and three blocked shots. Hobbs picked up 14 points and six rebounds, followed by Abby Dalton with 13 points.

Mia Clark finished with seven points and four assists, while two points each by Jerrian Jackson and Katelyn O’toole rounded out the scoring for the Lady Bobcats.

The Georgia Northwestern women will play its regular season finale on Feb. 19 at the R.A.C. against the Dalton State College club team at 6 p.m.