FERRUM, Va. -- Ferrum College rallied from an early deficit and surged ahead in the second half to defeat Lees-McRae College, 38-33, in a high-scoring Conference Carolinas women's flag football game this afternoon at W.B. Adams Stadium.

RECORDS
Ferrum 14-3, 6-1 CC
Lees-McRae 9-7, 5-2 CC

THE BASICS
Lees-McRae struck first and built a 13-6 lead in the opening quarter, capitalizing on early offensive momentum behind its passing attack. Ferrum answered with a touchdown connection between Payson Shreeve and Samantha Pitzer, but the visitors continued to find the end zone and extended their advantage to 19-6 in the second quarter.

Ferrum responded with back-to-back scoring drives, including a long touchdown pass from Shreeve to Pitzer and a late score with seven seconds remaining in the half, tying the game at 19-19 heading into the break.

The Panthers took control in the third quarter, scoring twice to build a 32-19 lead. Shreeve found multiple targets during the surge, including touchdown passes to Anastasia Rogers and Breyana Kimmons, while the defense created key turnovers to shift momentum.

Lees-McRae answered with a touchdown late in the third quarter and added another in the fourth to pull within one possession, but Ferrum maintained its edge. Shreeve added a rushing touchdown with 1:31 remaining to extend the lead to 38-26, which proved to be the difference. A late Lees-McRae score with 10 seconds left cut the margin to five, but Ferrum held on for the win.

Ferrum's Jaden Hiers had a banner day, hauling in 13 passes for 121 yards and a score. Shreeve's season stat line now includes an impressive 4,609 passing yards with 59 touchdowns.

SENIOR DAY
Prior to the game, the Panthers honored lone graduating player, Zy'Breayziah Alexander, with a special Senior Day ceremony. A two-sport athlete at Ferrum, flag football and basketball, Alexander is Ferrum's first ever women's flag football graduating senior. 

KEY STATS
Passing: Shreeve 33-51, 342 yards, 5 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Shreeve 4-43, 1 TD
Receiving: Jaden Hiers 13-121, 1 TD; Pitzer 6-92, 2 TD; Macy Taylor 9-66; Kimmons 4-46, 1 TD; Rogers 1-3, 1 TD
Defense: 4 INT (Rogers 2, Malaea Lotima-Tonga 1, Alexander 1); Gracious Wise 1 sack

UP NEXT
Coach Garrett Roth's team will host Chowan University in another key Conference Carolinas game Friday, April 10, at 4:00 p.m. The Panthers will also host a neutral site league game between Chowan and King University.