The Orange women’s basketball team will start the 2nd half of the Big 8 Conference schedule in the thick of the state playoff hunt. On Friday night, Orange stormed out to a 17-7 lead, then held on for dear life in the 2nd half to defeat Southern Durham 48-42 at Panther Gymnasium. Icez Barnett led Orange with 17 points, while Lauren Cates had 12. Senior Grace Dively had a season-high eleven points. Southern Durham had a 10-0 run in the 2nd half to cut the Orange lead to one point, and had three possessions to take the lead. But Orange’s defense came up big to hand the Spartans its first loss in Big 8 play. Orange is now 11-4, 4-2 in the Big 8 Conference. They return to action on Monday morning for a special Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday game against Chatham Central at Northwood High School. Tipoff will be at 11 AM.