MORROW, Ga. – The University of North Georgia women's basketball team ended the 2023-24 regular season with a 60-55 win on the road against Clayton State Saturday afternoon.

The Nighthawks had three scorers in double figures, led by junior forward Emily Trushel with 22 points.

The scoring output marks Trushel's tenth game with 20 or more points this season.

Freshman forward Kendall Emener was not far behind in the scoring column with 19 points while adding nine rebounds as well. It's the third most rebounds in a game for the freshman and the sixth time in the last nine games she's totaled eight or more rebounds. 

The game was close all night long with both teams struggling to gain much separation from one another. 

All tied at 15-15 in the first quarter, UNG was able to gain some traction thanks to good defense in the second quarter.

The Nighthawks held Clayton St. to just four points in the second frame and ended the quarter on 7-0 spurt to outscore the Lakers 15-4 in total in the ten minute period.

Clayton State was held to a stingy 1-for-12 from the floor in the second quarter.

Roles reversed after halftime as the Lakers outscored UNG 23-15 in the third quarter.

The Nighthawks were still able to score in the quarter, going 7-for-13 from the floor, but the Lakers held a significant advantage at the foul line. 

While UNG attempted just three free throws in the third quarter, the Lakers went to the stripe nine times and converted eight attempts. 

The PBC foes headed into the final quarter of the regular season in a two-point game. The Nighthawks led 45-43 as the quarter started.

After a layup from Emener gave the Nighthawks their largest lead of the quarter at 51-45, the Lakers scored six of the game's next seven points to make it 52-51. 

In a one point game with less than three minutes to play, junior guard Isabel Davenport hit the biggest three of the night for head coach Buffie Burson's team. 

Davenport's triple gave the Nighthawks a two possession lead, 57-53, with 1:22 remaining. 

Clayton State cut the deficit in half with 1:01 to go with a layup from junior guard Devyne Turner. 

The next time down the floor, UNG looked to its leading scorer for one final bucket to seal the game. Trushel delivered with a back-breaking three pointer, her third of the game, to make it 60-55 with only 0:19 left on the clock. The Lakers were unable to score again and the Nighthawks sealed their tenth conference win of the season.

The win in the regular season finale ends UNG's season with a 17-11 overall record and a 10-8 mark in conference play. This places the Nighthawks fifth in the PBC standings ahead of the conference tournament. 

The PBC Tournament will be hosted by WBCA No. 20 Georgia Southwestern who won the league with a 16-2 conference record. It's there in Americus, Ga. where UNG will face Lander in the 4-seed vs 5-seed matchup in the first round of the conference tournament. The tournament begins Thursday, Mar. 7 and tip times will be announced by the league office in the coming days.