STAUNTON, Va. — The Averett University women's basketball team won a highly contested USA South Conference opener, 70-66, at Mary Baldwin University on Saturday afternoon. 
 
With the game coming down to the wire, senior Alixis Roccia came up clutch for Averett (3-3, 1-0 USA South) down the stretch on her way to a game-high 20-point effort. Both teams traded baskets throughout the final minutes of the fourth quarter before Roccia hit her second step-back 3-pointer of the quarter to put Averett up 68-64 with 2:31 remaining in regulation. The Cougars sealed it with two pivotal free throws in the final seconds of regulation to extend the lead to four over Mary Baldwin (7-3, 1-2 USA South).

Roccia proved to be the deciding factor in Saturday's decision. Her first step-back 3-pointer from the left wing helped Averett regain the lead, 63-62, with 4:29 remaining, and junior Brooke Carthon followed with a jumper that gave the Cougars the lead for good. 
 
Averett fell behind early in the opening quarter but used a 7-0 run to battle back, pulling within 12-9 with four minutes remaining in the first period. The Cougars then rolled off another impressive run to close out the opening quarter of play to take a slight 19-18 advantage heading into Quarter 2. 
 
Mary Baldwin took an early lead to open the second quarter of play, but junior Kiara Smith hit a 3-pointer put Averett back in front 26-25. Following Smith's 3-point momentum swing, Averett used a 19-6 run to finish the opening half of play with a 40-31 lead at the break. 
 
The Fighting squirrels came out of halftime firing on all cylinders, using back-to-back 3-pointers to pull within one point of Averett at 42-41. A jumper by Brooke Anders gave Mary Baldwin a 43-42 lead, and the Squirrels increased their advantage to 47-42 with just over three minutes remaining in the quarter.
 
However, Averett battled back once again getting two free throws from Carthon and a contested layup by Smith that rolled around the rim and found the bottom of the net for a three-point opportunity that Smith converted to even the game at 47-47 with 2:12 remaining in the quarter. 
 
Clutch free throw shooting by Carthon gave Averett the lead 50-47 with seconds remaining in the third quarter before Rachel Hepler nailed a corner 3-pointer to even the game at 50-50. Yet, Roccia's jumper with 11 seconds remaining gave the Cougars a slim 52-50 lead heading into the final quarter of play. 
 
Averett drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to open the fourth quarter as Roccia finished where she left off the third with a deep triple, while junior Zenise Chambers increased the Cougars' lead to 58-52 with a 3-pointer of her own. 
 
Mary Baldwin didn't go away, however, as the Fighting Squirrels pulled back within one point following jumpers by Leah Calhoun and a 3-pointer by Demet Saygili. 
 
The Cougars finished Saturday's conference showdown with an impressive four players in double-digit scoring figures as senior Amani Ajayi, Roccia, Smith and Carthon all posted double-digit figures, while Carthon paced the team with 10 rebounds. 
 
With the win, the Cougars made it 23 consecutive wins over the Fighting Squirrels dating back to the 2008 season.
 
Averett will be back in action Tuesday, Dec.11, as it travels to Emory, Va., for a meeting with No. 15 Emory & Henry College at 6 p.m.