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DANVILLE, Va. — Megan Rahn's jumper with 0.4 seconds left helped Meredith College escape with a 65-63 victory over Averett on Tuesday night in the USA South Conference opener for both teams.

Tied 63-63 with 14.5 seconds to play, Rahn drove to the foul line and put up the game-winner in traffic. She was also fouled on the play, but she missed the free throw and the Cougars couldn't get a final shot off before the horn sounded. It was only the second time in the entire game that Meredith (2-2, 1-0 USA South) held the lead.

Averett (3-2, 0-1 USA South) opened the game on a tear, rolling out to a 23-9 lead through 13 minutes of play. Despite a hot start, the Cougars' offense cooled off and Meredith was able to cut the deficit to 30-25 at the half.

Although the Avenging Angels tied the game at 33-33, Averett was able to hold Meredith off for most of the second half. Meredith took a brief 51-50 lead with less than seven minutes to play, but the Cougars answered with a pair of Ashley Washington free throws less than 20 seconds later.

Meredith knotted the score several times down the stretch, including one final time on a pair of Kaela Bellefeuil free throws with 32 seconds to play. Averett couldn't convert at the other end, giving the ball back to Meredith with 14.5 seconds remaining.

Averett shot a meager 29.1 percent from the floor, but the Cougars won the turnover battle and dominated the boards until late in the second half, when Meredith closed the rebounding gap.

Rahn led the Avenging Angels with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Bellefeuil scored 15 points. Brittany Cornelius finished with 12 points and Kristin Stewart had a team-high 10 rebounds for Meredith, which shot 44.9 percent from the field.

Two Cougars finished with double-doubles in the losing effort. Washington scored 18 points and grabbed 17 rebounds and senior Kristyn Wharton had 13 points and 15 rebounds.

Averett is off until Dec. 12 when the Cougars host Eastern Mennonite University at 6 p.m.