FRANKLIN SPRINGS, Ga. – The No. 23 University of North Georgia (UNG) women's basketball team picked up a 73-65 road win at Emmanuel Wednesday night to move to 8-0 on the season.

Having gone undefeated through the first eight games of the season marks UNG's best start to a season since 1999.

The Nighthawks were propelled to the win behind three different 20-point scorers in senior guard Ansley Hall, graduate guard Caroline Martin and graduate forward Emily Trushel. 

Hall led the way with a season-high 21 points, finishing one-point shy of her career high. She went 7-for-13 from the floor with six rebounds, three assists and a career-high five steals. 

Martin followed with 20 points, three rebounds, two assists and a stellar 11-for-11 performance at the free throw line. Martin has been fantastic at the free throw line this season. Her efforts Wednesday bolstered a season mark in which Martin has gone 40-for-48 (83.3 percent) at the stripe this season. 

Trushel also had a season-high 20 points going 7-for-12 from the floor and 4-for-5 at the line. The Brentwood, Tenn. native has now reached double-figures in six games this season. 

Sophomore forward Kendall Emener had a big night on defense to assist her team in the win. She grabbed 10 rebounds and collected a career-high four blocks to limit the Lions offensive attack. 

Emener has been a machine on the boards in her last three games. She entered this season with two double-digit rebounding games in her career. Wednesday marked her third consecutive double-digit rebounding games. The second-year big is averaging 10.3 rebounds per game in her last three outings. 

The performances of the aforementioned four players coupled with some key plays from others helped UNG outlast a tough Emmanuel team on the road. 

This was not an ordinary regional road game however. The Nighthawks and Lions opened the 2024-25 season against each other in Dahlonega for the Peach Belt/Conference Carolinas Challenge. UNG won that game handily 79-62 but it's never easy to beat the same team twice.

That fact was evident in the early goings of Wednesday's contest as Emmanuel utilized clutch three-point shooting and rebounding to hang with the Nighthawks. 

After the first quarter, the Lions led 24-23 marking just the second time all-season that UNG had trailed after the first 10 minutes. The second quarter was more of the same as the Nighthawks battled a low-scoring affair to a 34-34 tie at halftime. 

In the third quarter, it appeared the Nighthawks might begin to pull away as they grabbed their largest lead of the night thus far at seven points after a Martin put back bucket. Instead, Emmanuel responded with a three-pointer on the next possession to make it 51-47 with 1:21 to play in the quarter. Hall answered with another layup on UNG's final possession of the quarter, but the Lions once again came down the floor and hit another triple to make it 53-50 going into the fourth.

Trushel opened the final quarter with a fastbreak layup to give the Nighthawks a five-point lead. The Lions responded with a small 6-0 run to reclaim the lead at 56-55 with 8:32 to play. Hall and Trushel combined for the next three baskets as UNG mustered a 6-0 run of its own. 

With five minutes to go, UNG led 63-59 before a bucket and two free throws on consecutive Emmanuel possessions tied the game once more. The game completely shifted after that. 

On the ensuing possession, Lions forward Maddie Futch was called for a foul on Martin. Moments later, guard Addie Penick received a technical foul. Martin was awarded four free throws at the line which she made to give her team a 67-63 advantage. Receiving the ball after the technical foul, Martin hit a dagger three-pointer after a nice assist from freshman guard Averie Jones to give UNG a 70-63 lead with just 2:18 remaining. The Nighthawks went from a tie game to holding a seven-point lead in just 20 seconds of game time.

From there, UNG would hang on to come away with its second road win of the season.

With an 8-0 record for the first time in a quarter of a century, the Nighthawks will look to continue the hot start heading into the holidays. Next on the docket for UNG is another regional road game as the team heads to Salisbury, N.C. on Monday, Dec. 16 to face Catawba at 11 a.m.