CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Marissa Hudley (Charlotte, N.C., Harding University )scored 21 points and came one rebound shy of a double-double as the Queens University of Charlotte Royals defeated Lees-McRae College, 68-52, Thursday night in a Conference Carolinas game.

Queens came out and took a 5-0 lead, but a three by Lauren Casey followed by a layup by Montgomery tied the game at five with 17:22 remaining in the half.  At the 13 minute mark, a Montgomery layup tied the game at 12, but Queens' Jacquia Winstead (Elm City, N.C., Beddingfield) responded with a bucket to give Royals the lead for good.  Winstead's points sparked a 12-0 run by Queens to take a 24-12 lead with 10:31 on the clock.  Three minutes later, the Lady Bobcats cut the lead to six, 24-18, on a Jazzmin Tate Field goal, but again the Royals responded this time with a 7-0 run to push the lead back to double-digits, 31-18.  Queens took their lead to 15, 35-20, with 2:27 left off of a bucket from Jessica Lewis (Hampton, Va., Bethel), but Lees-McRae closed the gap to 37-27 at the half.

After the half, Queens had the lead to 16 points, 45-29, with just over 15 minutes to play and again at the 8:53 mark 53-37.  The Royals took their largest lead of the game of 22 points, 64-42, with 3:39 on clock, but the Lady Bobcats finished the game on a 6-0 run to give the game the final score of 68-52.

Lees-McRae was 37 percent from the floor and 33 percent from three, while Queens was 39 percent from the floor and 30 percent from three.  The Royals hit 88 percent of their free throws, 15-of-17, compared to the Lady Bobcats 57 percent, 8-of-14.

Hudley led all players with her game-high 21 points.  Ashley McGuirt (Indian Trail, N.C., Providence Day) and Cecilia Tchangoue (St. Jean Le Blanc, France, Forsyth Country Day) scored 13 points and 11 points respectively.  Winstead had a game-high ten rebounds.

Montgomery, who was 7-of-13 overall and 3-of-4 from the free throw line, was the only Lady Bobcat in double-digits with her 17 points and her nine rebounds was a team-high.  Casey and Jessica Blair had eight points apiece.  Casey also had a team-high three assists and two steals.

Lees-McRae was outrebounded 43-30.

The Royals travel to Belmont Abbey College on Saturday for a face off against the conference rival at 5:30 p.m.