College of Charleston
USC Aiken
College of Charleston downs USC Aiken 80-71 behind Kotcella?s career-high 24 points and program-high tying six three pointers
12/31/2008 5:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Junior forward Brooke Kotcella (Anderson, S.C.) delivered a career-high 24 points on a program-best tying six three-pointers as the College of Charleston (8-3, 2-2) defeated No. 18 Division II USC Aiken (7-3) Wednesday afternoon in a non-conference game at the Carolina First Arena in Charleston, South Carolina.
With the game tied at 51-51 with 8:07 to play in the second half, the Cougars used an 18-8 run that featured three straight three-pointers and eight points from Kotcella to take a 69-59 lead with 4:08 remaining. A pair of free throws and a jumper by senior forward Satu Leppanen closed the gap to 69-63 at the 3:20 mark before 5-2 Charleston mini run pushed the lead back to 74-65.
The Pacers would not go quietly, however, as a pair of layups from sophomore guard Nakia Pinkney and two free throws by senior forward Morgan Johnson fueled a 6-0 run over the next 2:54 that pulled Aiken to within 75-71 with 26 seconds to play. That would be as close as they would get though as the Cougars connected on their final five free throws, four by junior guard Jade Hughes (Spartanburg, S.C.), to ice the game and secure the 80-71 victory.
It was a different story in the first half as the Pacers led much of the way. Following a jumper by sophomore guard Tonia Gerty (Port Orange, Fla.) that gave CofC an 8-7 lead at the 15:40 mark, USC Aiken would regain and hold the lead until Cougars' junior center Deidra Jones (Irmo, S.C.) connected on a pair of free throws to give Charleston back the lead, 26-25, with 2:01 remaining in the first half.
It would be short lived as the Pacers rallied with back-to-back jumpers on the next two possessions to go up 29-26 before closing out the half tied at 31-31. At the start of the second half, Charleston jumped out to a 36-31 lead behind a jumper by Gerty and three-pointer by Kotcella on their first two possessions before consecutive layups and a free throw by USC Aiken knotted the score at 36-36. Another Kotcella three-pointer with 16:53 to play then gave the Cougars back the lead at 39-36.
A 6-2 Pacers run gave them the lead at 42-41 before a three-pointer by sophomore guard Megan King (Fort Wayne, Ind.) made it 44-42, CofC. Charleston maintained a narrow advantage over the next 5:05 before USC Aiken tied the game at 49-49 with 8:40 to play. A basket by senior forward Nikki Williams (North, S.C.) and a pair of free throws by Pacers freshman forward Lindsay Sundberg made the score 51-51 and set the stage for the Cougars second half run.
Morgan Johnson led the way for USC Aiken with a team-high 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and a 6-of-7 performance at the foul line while Satu Leppanen tallied 12 points. Senior guard Meredith Legg and Lindsay Sundberg each finished with 10 points to round out the double-figure scorers while junior guard Kendra Chandler had a solid all-around performance with five points, a team-high six rebounds and a game-high three steals.
For the Cougars, Brooke Kotcella's career-high 24 points paced four double-digit scorers and her eight rebounds were a game-high. Kotcella was 9-of-13 from the floor, including a career-high six made three pointers on nine attempts, while Jade Hughes finished with 13 points, all in the second half, and went 8-of-8 from the foul line. Tonia Gerty finished with 11 points and Deidra Jones added 10 points with six rebounds. Nikki Williams chipped in with five points and seven rebounds.
The Cougars return to action on Saturday, January 3, 2009 when they host Samford at 2:00 p.m.
NOTES
Kotcella's six three pointers tie her with current teammate Nikki Williams and Becky Wollenberg for the most three pointers in a single game since Charleston moved to the Division I level ... Williams set her mark against UNC Greensboro on January 15, 2007 while Wollenberg set the record on February 11, 2002 against Appalachian State ... with the victory, the College of Charleston currently holds a 20-1 advantage in the all-time series against USC Aiken ... it was the first meeting between the two programs since the 1989-90 season, when Charleston was still competing at the NAIA level ... The Pacers entered the game ranked No. 18 in the nation at the Division II level.
