College of Charleston
UNC Greensboro
Cougars Open SoCon with 71-60 Win over Spartans
12/6/2009 2:15:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Brooke Kotcella (Anderson, S.C.) scored 13 points, including six in the last three minutes that helped stave off a furious UNC Greensboro rally, to lead the College of Charleston women's basketball team to the 71-60 win over the Spartans in front of 237 fans at Carolina First Arena.
Charleston opened the Southern Conference season with a win and improved to 5-3 overall and 1-0 in the league. UNC Greensboro dropped to 1-6 and 0-1.
The Cougars built a 24-point lead in the second half and led 55-31 with 9:40 remaining before UNCG's Amanda Leigh nailed three straight three-pointers and a jumper to cut the margin to 13 en route to a 22-6 run that saw the Cougar lead dwindle to eight, 61-53, with 3:31 to go. Kotcella responded with a three-pointer to increase the margin back to double-digits, and went three-of-four from the free throw line down the stretch to keep UNC Greensboro from getting any closer as the Cougars came away with the 11-point, 71-60 win.
Jade Hughes (Spartanburg, S.C.) scored all of her six points from behind the charity stripe, including four within the last 1:41 of the game.
"You would have preferred that things had continued to go very smoothly for us and that we stayed in control but reality is that they are a good team so that they aren't going to just sit back and get beat by 20 or 30 points," said Head Coach Nancy Wilson, who improves her record over the Spartans to 8-6.
The Cougars opened the first half with eight straight points, building a 25-point, 36-11 lead with 5:40 before halftime. UNC Greensboro cut the deficit to 17 with a 9-1 run over the next five minutes to trail 37-20 with 28 seconds remaining before three straight points by Ariel Hatcher (Monroe, Mich.) took the margin to 20 at the break, 40-20.
The Cougars held the Spartans to just 25.8 percent from the field in the first half, while connecting on 14-of-34 for 41.2 percent. For the game, Charleston was 40.4 percent from the field, compared to 30.4 for UNC Greensboro.
"I was very pleased with the first half and I thought we looked pretty sharp. They were struggling offensively and I think a lot of that had to do with our defense. "
After going 0-for-eight from beyond the three-point line, the Spartans were six-for-11 in the second for 31.6 percent. Charleston was just two-for-five in the second, after hitting four-of 12 in the first for 35.3 percent for the game.
Charleston out-rebounded UNC Greensboro, 46-41 and went 23-for-27 from the free throw line, compared to 12-for-17 for the Spartans. UNCG had 15 turnovers, compared to 21 for CofC.
Tonia Gerty (Port Orange, Fla.) had a team-leading 13 points, along with Kotcella, while Ericka Williams (Blackville, S.C.) had 10 rebounds to pace the Cougars as well. Williams posted her second career double-double with her 12 points on the night. Megan King (Fort Wayne, Ind.) tied her career-high with nine points on the night in just 10 minutes of action.
"I thought Ericka Williams came in and gave us a nice lift with her offensive rebounding. To be able to score off of those offensive boards is such a vital part of being a good basketball team and that was big for us tonight."
The Cougars host Elon Monday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. For tickets visit www.CofCSports.com or call 843.953.CofC (2632).
