DANVILLE, Va. — The Averett University women's basketball team fell short to Lynchburg College 71-60 at the Grant Center on Monday evening.
 
Senior guard Jessica Myers took control of her squad from the tip, putting up eight of Averett's first 10 points in less than four minutes, and she finished the first half with 13. It was looking good for the Cougars (3-3) early on when they used their full court press to frustrate the Hornets, helping Averett build a 15-7 lead after a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Joelle Deese.
 
But Lynchburg, who was picked as the favorite in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) preseason poll, froze Averett's offense as it sparked a 10-0 run to climb ahead 17-15 with 8:43 on the clock in the second quarter. The Hornets (7-2, 2-0 ODAC) led 31-30 at the break and maintained the lead until Deese drove through the lane to lay the ball in and put the Cougars up 39-38 midway through the third period.
 
The teams continued to trade baskets, and Lynchburg, with its height advantage, controlled the boards and capitalized on second-chance opportunities. Averett's defense worked the perimeter and jumped the passing lanes to finish with 15 steals, but the Cougars struggled to finish in transition while the Hornets worked the inside on the opposite end and used screens to get backdoor layups.
 
"Lynchburg is a very good team in our region and great competition for us to face," Averett head coach Liz Hickey said. "We played with them for three quarters but need to learn to play for 40 minutes." 
 
Lynchburg began to pull away in the fourth quarter when Charmaine Houston knocked down a triple from the corner to give the Hornets a 10-point lead (61-51) with 7:13 left in regulation, and the Cougars were unable to come back from the deficit.
 
Myers led all scorers with 21 points, six rebounds, five steals and one block while sophomore shooting guard Samm Chandler added 19 points, six rebounds and two blocks for Averett. Lynchburg's Chaney Forbush and Caroline Naumann each ended the night with a double-double. Forbush paced the Hornets with 17 points and 10 rebounds as Naumann registered 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Averett heads to Ferrum, Virginia, on Friday, Dec. 18, to face Ferrum College to kick off conference play. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.