DAHLONEGA, Ga. ------ Four players established new season-high scoring marks, led by a career-best 19 points by freshman Ashton Sutton, but the Auburn Montgomery women's basketball team fell to North Georgia 94-56 in the opener of the UNG Nighthawk Classic Friday.

NOTES
• With the loss, the Warhawks fell to 1-3 on the season.
• North Georgia improved to 3-0 with the win.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
• Sutton finished 7-of-11 from the field, including 5-of-7 from distance to tally the career high. She added three rebounds, two steals and an assist in the contest.
• Junior Tyra Caudle posted season-bests with 12 points and eight rebounds.
• Chandler Sutton recorded a season-high seven points, two steals and an assist.
• Anastasia Evans contributed eight points, a rebound and a steal.
• Grace Farnsworth blocked a pair of shots in the contest.
• Amber Skidgel led all players with 28 points, finishing 11-of-16 from the floor, including 5-of-7 from distance.
• Jordan Livesay, Deana Blankenship and Kelsey Hutchins also scored in double figures for the Nighthawks.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Nighthawks opened the game with a 14-4 spurt during the first 5:26 before an Evans layup trimmed the deficit to single-digits with 4:34 remaining in the first quarter. However, North Georgia scored 11 straight points, before a trey by Shalyn Strain stopped the run with 1:18 left in the quarter. The Nighthawks led 25-9 after one quarter.
• The Warhawks held strong against the Nighthawks in the second quarter, scoring 23 points to the home teams 27. AUM trailed 52-32 at the half.
• North Georgia used a 14-2 run to open the third quarter, before C. Sutton stopped the rally with a layup with 3:59 remaining in the quarter. AUM closed the quarter by scoring the final eight points and held the Nighthawks scoreless for the last 5:29. The Warhawks trailed 66-42 after three quarters.
• The Warhawks cut the deficit to 21 points, 69-48, on a layup by A. Sutton with 6:54 remaining in the contest, the Nighthawks closed the game with a 25-8 run to provide the final margin.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• The Warhawks converted just 19-of-62 shots from the floor, including 6-of-23 from distance. AUM also hit just 12-of-24 free throw attempts.
• The Nighthawks finished 39-of-76 from the field, good for 51.3 percent. In the first half, North Georgia converted 56.4 percent of its shots.
• UNG held a significant 52-27 advantage on the glass, including a 21-11 advantage on the offensive boards. The Nighthawks tallied 24 second-chance points.
• AUM's bench – A. Sutton, C. Sutton, Evans, Strain, Danielle Gaines-Jordan and Aleksandra Trisic – combined for 38 of its 56 points.
• The Warhawks committed 20 turnovers, leading to 20 UNG points. The Nighthawks recorded 21 miscues, which AUM turned into 11 points.

QUOTING THE COACH
"I felt like we didn't practice well yesterday and that carried over into tonight's game, especially with our starting five" head coach Dan Davis. "North Georgia came out and really welcomed us to Division II basketball in the first quarter and our lack of intensity was very disappointing. I thought in the second half some of our bench players came in and really showed us some positive things. I thought the Sutton sisters played well tonight, so hopefully that will carry over into tomorrow. But give North Georgia a lot of credit. They are a very good basketball, but our job now is to put this one behind us and be ready to come out and play against a very talented Georgia College team tomorrow."

UP NEXT
AUM will conclude play at the UNG Nighthawk Classic Saturday with a 1 p.m. tilt against Georgia College.