It is fitting that the final points scored by a Hillsborough basketball team this season was a 3-pointer by Orange’s Natalie Roberson off an assist from Payton Borland.
It was two seniors from a team that has won 36 games over the past two years connecting one final time on a night that didn’t go its way.
The seven seniors on the Orange women’s basketball team has been the most successful roundball squad in Hillsborough over the past two years. Maura McMurtry, Alexis Stephens, Roberson, Addison Atkins, Kyla Mehl, Borland and Mariah Poole teamed to finish second in consecutive years in their respective leagues. In 2025, they came in runner-up in the Central Conference behind only Western Alamance, who went on to win the 3A State Championship.
This year, they finished second in the Big 7 Conference behind Seaforth, who reached the round of 16 in the 5A State Playoffs before having its season come to an end against Eastern Alamance in Mebane on Saturday night.
On Thursday night, sixth-seeded Rockingham County ended the season of the Lady Panthers with 58-38 win in Wentworth during the second round of the 5A State Playoffs. Ava Grace Pruitt led a balanced attack for the Cougars with 14 points while Layna Strittmatter finished with 12 points.
Sophomore Kassidy Tolliver led Orange with eleven points and eight rebounds. Tolliver, a transfer from Cedar Ridge, ends the year as the Lady Panthers leading scorer with 12.2 points per game and rebounder with nine boards a game.
The Cougars started the game on a 13-2 run, forcing eight turnovers in the opening quarter.
The Cougars built its lead up to 28 points at 56-28 with 1:46 remaining in regulation. Rockingham, utilizing its full court press to force 34 Orange turnovers, helped its defense create offense. The Cougars finished with 22 field goals off 18 assists, shooting 3-of-12 from 3-point range. They held the Lady Panthers to three points in the third quarter.
Orange ends the year 18-9, including a 10-2 mark in the Big 7.
Rockingham County (23-3) went on the road on Saturday and rolled past 3rd-seeded Croatan 59-32 to advance to the State Quarterfinals, where they will face 2nd-seeded Rocky Mount on Monday.
While a conference championship eluded them, the Orange women simply enjoyed each other’s company and competing. A squad comprised predominantly of multi-sport athletes like Mehl (soccer and tennis), Stephens (goalkeeper in soccer who has committed to play at Shaw University), Roberson (softball), Borland (softball) and Poole (volleyball).
For McMurtry and Addison, it ended a journey that started together as freshmen on the varsity, coached in the 2022-2023 season by B.J. Condron, now the athletic director at Southeast Alamance.
“I think we all really wanted to win the conference,” McMurtry said after a win over Cedar Ridge on February 23. “I’ll remember all the people I’ve gotten to play with. Last year, it was a very different team than we had this year. My freshman year, I was around a lot of upperclassmen.”
Last year, McMurtry led Orange with 17 points as the Lady Panthers rolled past Swansboro 50-33 in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs. It was Orange’s first state playoff win since 2017, when current assistant coach Kayden Campbell scored 20 points in a 81-77 win over Havelock.
On Tuesday, Orange defeated Havelock in the opening round of the 5A State Playoffs.
Orange head coach Josh Underwood, who also graduated from Orange, has helped bring stability after two years on the job. The Lady Panthers have gone 19-7 in conference games since he took over.
Though Orange is losing six seniors, Underwood provided a glimpse of Orange’s future down the stretch of the season. Albright, a freshman, became a fixture in the starting lineup. Junior Lily Wilson had a torrent finish, scoring 23 points in consecutive games against Cedar Ridge and South Granville in the Big 7 Conference Tournament. She had a career-high 25 at South Granville on February 9.
With Tolliver’s scheduled return, the future is still bright for Orange women’s basketball, thanks in no small part to the seniors who helped return the program to its most successful two-year stretch this decade.
