Heather Johnson of Lenoir said picking the numbers she felt good about helped her win a $150,000 Powerball prize.

Johnson said she’s been choosing her own numbers since she started playing.

“I’ll have my husband pick three and I’ll pick the rest,” Johnson said. “We use whatever numbers we feel good about. I’ll usually use something like birthdays. My husband likes to use numbers from his favorite sports teams.”

The strategy paid off, and she beat the odds of 1 in 913,129 to win $150,000 in Saturday’s drawing.

“I would have been happy to win $5,” Johnson said. “You can imagine my excitement when I found out how much I won.”

She claimed her prize Thursday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal tax withholdings, she received $104,252. She plans to use some of the money to pay bills.

She bought the $3 Power Play ticket at the Foust Corner Market on East Center Street in Mebane.
The numbers matched four white balls and the Powerball to win $50,000. The prize tripled when the 3X multiplier was drawn for Power Play tickets.

The jackpot for Saturday’s drawing has reached $184 million with an estimated lump sum of $112.7 million.

Ticket sales from games like Powerball made it possible for the lottery to raise more than $634 million dollars for the state last year. For details on how lottery funds has made a difference in Caldwell County, click on the “For Education” section of the lottery’s website.