HARRISONBURG, VA. – The College of Charleston women's basketball team (9-21) saw its season come to an end in the opening round of the CAA Tournament Wednesday, as the Cougars fell 49-44 to UNCW (11-19).
• UNCW wrestled the lead away in the opening three minutes, and though the game would become tied a few times after that, the Cougars would never regain the lead. The first quarter proved to be the highest scoring in the game, and after 10 minutes of play, UNCW clung to a 17-15 lead.
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Breanna Bolden came alive at the end of the first to score seven points in the span of under three minutes. The senior finished with a 13 point, 14 rebound double-double to go with a steal in her final collegiate game.
Tanisha Brown had a 10-10 double-double of her own, as both players each recorded the 11
th double-double of their season. It was the third time this year that two Cougars registered double-doubles in the same game. As a team, the College finished the year with 24 double-doubles in total on the season.
• The College brought the score to within four on two occasions in the fourth quarter after trailing by as many as 10. However, the Seahawks found themselves in control of the possession and exploited the opportunity to bleed the clock as the Cougars' comeback effort simply ran out of time.
• The Cougars out-rebounded the Seahawks 43-39, but UNCW had the advantage in most other categories, including turnovers, free throw opportunities, assists and blocks. The Seahawks had a tough night shooting the ball at 34.6% from the field, but the Cougars had an even tougher time, going 16 of 59 (27.1%). On an individual level, Jasmine Steele led all scorers with 17 points on 8 of 10 shooting.
"This was a good chance for us to do some things, and we came up short," head coach
Candice M. Jackson said. "We didn't shoot the ball as well as we could have, and we committed too many turnovers which took us out of our flow. It's hard to win games that way."
• Bolden finished her CofC career with some incredible career numbers, including 1672 points, 845 rebounds, 249 assists, and 333 steals. She goes down in CofC history as the All-Time leader in steals, the fourth-most prolific scorer, and the Division I Era rebounding leader among many other marks. She also boasts the feat of being just the second player in the history of the conference to earn three CAA Defensive Player of the Year awards.
"There's so much you can say about Bre as a player and as a person," Jackson said. "Every game that we've played, she's put her whole heart into it. She's the ultimate competitor who practices the way she plays, and as a coach you enjoy that because that's what you want to see in all of your players. She's an excellent leader by example, and there's a reason she's First Team All-CAA. Her effort day-in, day-out has been unmatched, and we're really going to miss her."
