ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. - The NC Wesleyan College women's basketball team powered their way past conference foe Averett University 71-54 at home on Friday evening.

With the win, Wesleyan remains undefeated at 7-0 in the conference and first place in the East Division. They are also now 9-1 overall and undefeated in Division 3.

Wesleyan got out to a strong first quarter lead as they scored 22 points and took an 8-point advantage into the second stanza. The offense of both teams would then drop off a bit in the second as each team struggled to shoot the ball. The Bishops would go into half leading 36-27 on 31.5 percent shooting while holding Averett to just 25 percent shooting.

The struggling offenses would continue into the third quarter as neither team would shoot better than 30 percent. Wesleyan then held the Cougars to only 11 points in the third to take a 53-38 lead into the final quarter. 

Wesleyan then found a bit of offense in the fourth quarter shooting 50 percent from three and 38 percent in the quarter to put away the feisty Cougars 18-16 and grab the 17-point win.

Junior forward Javana Jones then led the Bishops by tying her season-high with 14 points on 6 of 10 shooting off the bench while bringing down 8 rebounds while senior guard Cydney Nichols added 13 points and a team-best 11 rebounds for a double-double. She also added 2 assists, a steal, and a block.

Senior forwards Myrayna Watkins and Kneciya Tripp also scored 9 points apiece while combining for 14 rebounds. Senior point guard Keorra Taylor also led the Bishops with 4 assists and 3 steals while scoring 4 points. Fellow senior guard, Kayla Johnson, then scored 6 points with 3 assists while freshman wing Nadia Simmons added 6 points and 6 rebounds as well.

Defensively, sophomore forward Kayrisma Harrison led the team with 3 blocks while also getting 7 boards.

The Bishops will now travel to Virginia on Sunday to complete their weekend series with the Cougars. Tip-off is set for 4 PM in Danville.