MOUNT BERRY, Ga.- The Berry Vikings (1-2) were defeated 80-70 by Piedmont on Sunday afternoon in the Cage Center to wrap up their weekend in the CCS/SAA Classic. Kenadie Lee led the Vikings in points for the third consecutive game with 23, a career best for the sophomore. McKenna Lentych tallied 16 rebounds, also a career-high.

Neither team could hold a firm lead on the other until Lee netted a three to put her team ahead 12-9. Piedmont took advantage of seven of 10 free throws in the first quarter, giving the Lions a 14-12 lead. Both teams were able to come up with 17 points to keep it even at the end of the first quarter.

Piedmont answered everything the Vikings had on offense, even as Berry tried to pull away with aggressive shooting, the Lions matched their efforts. Piedmont went on a 12-point scoring run, dominating the latter half of the second quarter. Freshman Elly Callahan cut Piedmont's lead to seven, but a three pointer in the final seconds put the Vikings at a 43-33 deficit heading into the locker room.

Berry went into the third quarter determined to diminish the Lions lead, scoring eight points in the first two minutes, now only down 45-42. Lee made back to back threes hoping to give the Viking offense some life as the third quarter came to a close.

Piedmont overpowered Berry for the duration of the fourth quarter, running up the lead as far as 80-62 with one minute remaining on the clock, but Berry scored eight points in the remaining 60 seconds to cut the final deficit to 10. The Vikings made 10 of their 16 free throw opportunities in the final quarter of the game, and went 18-26 during the game.

The Vikings head to Danville, Ky., on Friday for the Centre Classic. Berry is set to face Asbury at 5 p.m.