Edinboro, Pa. – The Edinboro women's basketball team went toe-to-toe with No. 4 North Georgia falling 86-75 on the second day of the D2CCA Tip-Off Classic presented by AHN Pavilion.
 
The teams traded buckets early with Taylor Blunt giving the Scots an early lead 7-6 on a 3-pointer midway through the first quarter. The Nighthawks went on an 8-2 spurt to take a 14-9 lead with 1:34 left in the opening quarter.  A Hope Garrity triple with 1:17 left in the quarter cut the lead to 14-12. Hannah Cail put North Georgia ahead 19-14 with a 3-pointer at the 19 second mark and Maura Suman hit a two at the buzzer to cut the Nighthawk lead to 19-16 after one.
 
North Georgia came out and scored the first eight points of the second quarter keyed by triples from Caroline Martin and Maddie Millar to push the lead to 27-16 at the 6:51 mark. Edinboro answered with a 6-2 spurt with Rachael Manfredo scoring five to cut the lead to 29-22 with 5:28 left in the second. The Nighthawks grew the lead to 12, 43-31, after another Millar triple. Blunt connected on a 3-ball of her own and Suman hit a pair of free throws to cut the halftime deficit to 43-36.
 
In the second half, North Georgia came out fast with a 15-2 run to go up 58-38. The Scots chipped away at the lead cutting the advantage to 63-51 after a Carmen Vasquez layup with 2:04 on the clock. After the teams traded 3-pointers, Martin hit a pair of free throws to make it 68-54 North Georgia heading to the final frame.
 
Garrity scored an and-one at the 8:07 mark cutting the Nighthawk lead to 71-62. A 7-2 run by North Georgia extended the lead to 78-64, but the Scots answered again with a Blunt trey and Manfredo layup to pull back within single digits 78-69. Edinboro would cut the lead to eight on a pair of Blunt free throws with 25 seconds to play, but the Nighthawks held off the late charge for the 86-75 win.
 
Blunt was the Scots leading scorer notching 18 points to go with three rebounds. Manfredo added 14 points, three boards, two assists and two steals. Samantha Baker just missed a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds. Vasquez also reached double-figure scoring with 10 points.
 
Jones led the Nighthawks with 23 points and seven rebounds. Martin chipped in 18 and Cail 13.
 
The Scots close out the D2CCA on Sunday when they host Northern Michigan at 4 p.m. inside McComb Fieldhouse.