DANVILLE, Va.— Averett University women's basketball held off Greensboro College with a final defensive stop for a thrilling 58-56 victory in Sunday's USA South Conference Tournament quarterfinals.
 
Averett (18-8) led for most of the game before Greensboro (16-11) erased a 10-point deficit over a three-minute span in the fourth quarter, tying the game at 54-54 on Monica Smalls' jumper in the paint with 1:34 to play. Knotted at 56-56 with under a minute to play, Averett came up empty on its ensuing possession and Smalls grabbed the defensive rebound to put the Pride in position for the win.

Coming out of a Greensboro timeout with 12 seconds to play, the Pride looked for Smalls, who led the team with 21 points and nine rebounds and was their go-to player all game. Rasheika Gregory tried to lob a pass over the top in the paint to Smalls, but Averett junior Joelle Deese tipped the ball away into the hands of junior Samm Chandler, who was fouled with 7.7 seconds remaining.

Chandler knocked down both free throws to put Averett ahead by two. Greensboro had one last chance to tie the game, but Gregory's long jumper missed and sophomore Amani Ajayi grabbed the defensive rebound as the horn sounded.

Averett, the No. 2 seed in the East Division, advanced to the USA South semifinals on Friday against West No. 1 Maryville College at 7 p.m. Maryville is the host site for the semifinals and championship.

With the win over Greensboro, Averett also set a program single-season record with its 18th overall victory, surpassing the 2009-10 squad's mark of 17 wins. Coincidentally, Averett's last conference tournament victory came that same season.

Averett jumped on Greensboro early thanks to the hot shooting of sophomore Alixis Roccia, who knocked down three 3-pointers in a little more than a minute stretch during the first quarter. The Cougars opened the game with a 19-5 run on the Pride, the No. 3 seed in the East Division.

"Knocking down those three 3-pointers to start the game really energized the crowd and the team and let us play with a little bit of a cushion until the last couple of minutes," Averett head coach Liz Hickey said.

The Cougars' lead hovered around 10 points throughout the game until midway through the fourth quarter when Greensboro made its rally to tie the game.

Roccia led Averett with 15 points.  Deese added 12 points, including several key baskets in the fourth quarter, and Chandler finished with 13 points, four steals and two blocks. Junior Frida Lundquist grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and had four steals as well. Senior Jonna Koski also dominated the boards, grabbing eight rebounds.