DANVILLE, Va. — The Meredith College Avenging Angels basketball team fell 84-76 to the host Averett Cougars in their final regular season game Sunday afternoon. Jessi Hayes led the team with 25 points, her second-best career performance, and 14 rebounds. The Angels' comeback bid in the final minutes would fall short as the team would not recover from a 12-point deficit established in the third quarter.

The game began with a quick three from Hayes as she barely beat the shot clock to take the early lead. Gabi Jessup followed with a three of her own on the next trip down the court to begin the game on a 6-0 run.

The Cougars struggled to start their offense, as the team went almost four minutes without a basket. Averett attacked the defense in the lane to create opportunities and chip away at Meredith's lead. The teams would draw even at 12-12 to end the first quarter.

The second period began with putback from Averett's Oneka Jones to jumpstart a 5-0 run for the hosts. The Avenging Angels responded with a 7-0 rally of their own launched with another Hayes three.

Averett switched to a 2-3 zone defense halfway through the quarter to combat the jump shots from the Angels in the first half. Both teams battled back and forth for the rest of the period, but the Cougars edged Meredith 36-35 heading into the break.

Hayes led the scoring in the first half with 13 points and six rebounds. Jessup contributed nine points, and Chandler Hines added four steals for Meredith. The Avenging Angels held a five-rebound advantage over the Cougars for 12 second-chance points and shot 45.5 percent from beyond the arc during the first 20 minutes of play.

The second period began with two quick baskets from the Angels including a putback layup from Kim Hinton to take the lead. The Cougars responded quickly with a 12-0 run over the first three minutes of the half before Meredith's Head Coach Melinda Campbell called a timeout to interrupt the momentum.

Unfortunately, Meredith would not score during the next four minutes, and the Cougars stretched the lead to 12 before the end of the quarter.

Averett maintained the advantage during the early minutes of the final period but the Cougars soon found themselves in foul trouble. With just over two minutes remaining in regulation, Hayes hit a pair of free throws and Raven Gregory scored off her own offensive rebound to cut the lead to five.

But the comeback would fall short as a floater in the lane from Jessica Myers and four AU free throws secured the win for the Cougars.

Ashley Hudson recorded a quiet 18 points, six rebounds, and five assists as the Averett defense concentrated on guarding Hayes. Gregory and Hinton played a strong game inside as they tallied 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively, on the way to an eleven-rebound advantage as a team. The Angels finished the afternoon shooting 39.4 percent from the field but connected on just one shot from behind the arc in the second half.

Averett had four players finish in double-digits and were led by both Samm Chandler and Ariana Covington with 15 apiece. Jones led the Cougars with 11 rebounds, adding nine points on the afternoon.

The loss dropped Meredith to 8-17 overall, but their six conference wins proved just enough to secure a tournament invite. In a three-way tie with N.C. Wesleyan and Covenant, Meredith's 2-1 record versus the Bishops and Scots awarded the Angels an eighth seed in the conference tournament.

The Avenging Angels will travel to the host and top-seeded Maryville College Scots for a quarterfinal pairing Thursday. Tipoff versus Maryville is slated for 7 p.m.