RALEIGH - The Lady Knights held Enloe to just three points in the fourth quarter, but the Knightdale offense came up one point shy of completing a rally in Monday's season opener.

Enloe outscored Knightdale 18-7 in the third quarter to take a 47-38 lead, setting up the 50-49 victory.

Knightdale led 31-29 at the half.

Knightdale's Nicolette Neal had a look at a game-winning lay up at the buzzer, but missed her mark. Coach Anthony Byrd said Neal wasn't to blame for the loss.

"It was close and our girls played hard," he said. "We were down nine with a minute and a half to go and had a shot to win the game, but it's not her fault we lost. One shot can win the game for you at the end of the game, but can't lose the game. Wins are determined by things that go on through the course of the game."

Byrd pointed to the nine free throws his team missed in the game as the main reason his team came up short. The Lady Knights hit a mere 59 percent from the charity line, while Enloe made 81 percent of its free throws.

"That could be the difference right there," Byrd said. "They stepped up to the line and hit there's, and we didn't convert on ours. We practice that every day and the girls do well. It being the first game of the season and having people staring at you and having the jitters could be the difference in them making the shots or not."

Knightdale senior Kristin Maiden went 3-for-3 from behind the arc as Knightdale outscored Enloe 21-15 in the second quarter to take the 31-29 halftime lead.

The Knights scored 11 points in the final quarter, but missed a pair of free throws in that period that, if drained, would have given them the win.

Ajee Smith led the Lady Knights in scoring with 17 points, followed by Amber Wright with 13, Maiden with 9, Neal with 5, Teneallle Jackson with 4 and Aleeya Steward with 1.

Dana Brown led the Lady Eagles with 18 points, followed by Candice Jones with 10, Ebonie Coley with 7, Vidula Reddy with 6, Aleyha Johnson with 4, Briana Scott with 3 and Kiana Jackson with 2.