LOUISBURG, N.C. — The 17th-ranked Catawba Valley Community College women's basketball team built a 15-point halftime lead and held off a late charge by host Louisburg to pick up an 82-78 road Region X victory on Thursday night.

Freshman forward Zharia Brown paced the Red Hawks (18-4, 13-1 in Region X) with 16 points in Thursday's conference win — the seventh-straight victory for Catawba Valley.

Sophomore guard Shaniya Lester added 14 points for CVCC, and Red Hawk teammates Joyous Wilson (13 points), Jada Reid (13 points) and Nikkyana McCaskill (11 points) also reached double figures in scorings.

Paced by 12 points from Lester, CVCC led 46-31 at halftime against the Hurricanes (17-4, 12-4 in Region X).

However, Louisburg chipped into its deficit, and trailed by just nine points heading into the fourth quarter.

The Hurricanes scored 25 fourth-quarter points — led by six points each from guards Milequa Eason and Kaila Thompson — to make it a close ball game late.

Despite that effort, Nikkyana McCaskill scored seven points of her own in the fourth quarter to help the Red Hawks hold on for the crucial victory in a game featuring teams currently ranked second and third in Region X.

Shontai Totten and Teana Lewis both scored 17 points to lead the Hurricanes.

The CVCC women's basketball team returns to action on Saturday for a road conference game at Wake Tech. Tip off in Raleigh, N.C. is slated for 2 p.m.