Irick Lifts Cougars to OT Win over Spartans, 70-67 - CofCSports.com--Official Web site of College of Charleston Athletics

Monday, January 16

Greensboro, NC

5pm

College of Charleston

UNCG

Irick Lifts Cougars to OT Win over Spartans, 70-67 - CofCSports.com--Official Web site of College of Charleston Athletics

1/16/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

#articleRelated { display: none !important; } Erica Irick's three-pointer with 7.5 seconds left in regulation capped an 8-0 Cougar run over the final minute to propel the College of Charleston women's basketball team to overtime and the eventual 70-67 win over the UNC Greensboro Spartans in font of 465 fans at Fleming Gymnasium in Greensboro, N.C.

The win gave Charleston its first road win of the season and first win ever over the Spartans in Greensboro. Charleston has now defeated UNCG three out of four times. The Cougars improve to 6-8 overall and 4-3 in the Southern Conference, while the Spartans fall to 6-9 and 2-4 in the league. Charleston played in its first overtime game since the 2002-03 season and won its first since 2001-02.

Irick scored 11 points over the final three minutes of the second half and opened overtime play with a three-pointer as part of her 15-point effort, all coming in the final eight minutes of play.

Charleston opened the game with four straight three-pointers but with the gap between the third and fourth ones at seven minutes, the Cougars found themselves down 17-9. Jade Hughes, hit a lay-up with 9:11 left in the first half to mark the first Charleston two-point field goal of the game. The Cougars went on a 5-1 run over the next three minutes to cut the margin to three at 17-14 with 9:13 left in the first before the Spartans answered with eight straight points en route to a 12-3 run that gave UNCG the 29-17 lead with 1:13 left before intermission. Charleston then scored five straight to go into halftime down seven at 29-22. The Cougars shot 27.6 percent in the first half, compared to 33.3 for the Spartans. Only three Cougars scored in the first half with Marketta Talley leading the way with 11 points, nine of which were three-pointers.

For most of the of the second half UNCG kept the margin over the Cougars at just over five with Charleston cutting it to three on several occasions and even tying the game at the 11:10 mark at 43-43 before the Spartans used a three pointer to end the threat with 9:14 left. With 3:06 to go in the second half UNCG went on a 6-2 run to take the eight-point lead with 1:03 left in regulation. Charleston proceeded to score eight unanswered points off two three-pointers by Irick and two free throws by Talley to force overtime. The Cougars shot 48.4 percent in the second half and held UNCG to 34.3.

Irick opened overtime with a three-pointer with 4:02 left, which turned out to be the last field goal of the game as the Cougars connected on seven straight free throws after that, including two clutch ones at the 1:03 mark by Talley after UNCG Head Coach Lynn Agee got a technical foul. Those two shots gave the Cougars a one-point lead and they never looked back, taking the three-point 70-67 win. The Spartans did get the ball with three seconds left but the three-pointer by Meghan Chamberlain, who had 14 points on the night, ricocheted off the rim as time expired.

Charleston shot 37.5 percent from the field, while UNCG shot 33.3. UNCG held the slight 49-48 edge in rebounding and had 16 turnovers, compared to 23 for the Cougars, a season-low. Charleston nailed a season-high 10 three-pointers, just one from the CofC game record of 11 set in the 1996-97 season. Irick went four-of-seven from three-point range for a career-high. Talley led the team with 17 points, with Jade Hughes following with 16 points. Sarah Moye pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds to pace the Cougars. UNCG's Boone led with 18 points. Chamberlain had 14 rebounds for a double-double to go along with her 14 points.

Charleston hosts Anderson Jan. 18th at the Kresse Arena. Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM. The Spartans travel to Western Carolina the 18th for a 12:00 PM game.