College of Charleston
Furman
Williams, Kotcella lead Cougars to 67-52 win over Furman
1/30/2010 10:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Senior guard Ericka Williams (Blackville, S.C.) led all scorers with 19 points and senior forward Brooke Kotcella (Anderson, S.C.) notched a career-high 14 rebounds as the College of Charleston (16-6, 10-3) defeated Furman (6-16, 4-9) by a score of 67-52 in a Southern Conference women's basketball game at the Carolina First Arena.
After building a 49-38 lead with 10:15 to play in the game, the Cougars saw that advantage trimmed to 51-45 by the 7:03 mark as the Paladins closed the gap with a 7-2 run. They would get no closer as CofC erupted with a 14-1 run over the next 4:35 to stretch their lead to a commanding 65-46.
A pair of three-pointers by junior guard Jades Hughes (Spartanburg, S.C.) and back-to-back jumpers from Williams keyed the run and allowed the Cougars a comfortable lead as they closed out the 15-point victory, 67-52.
“We're glad to get a win today” said head coach Nancy Wilson. “Furman is just such a strong offensive team and they are tough to beat, tough to put away. I felt like we were taking good shots but we weren't able to hold them. We cut back on their production and we got really good production from every body that played”.
It was a far different game in the first half as the two teams traded baskets over the first five minutes before the College of Charleston eventually took a 17-12 lead at the 11:51 mark. They would extend that to 23-15 with 7:09 to play before Furman responded with a quick 5-0 run to make it 23-20.
Hughes then keyed 7-0 run with a pair of free throws and one of her four three-pointers on the day to push the lead to double-figures at 30-20. The Paladins closed the half with a 6-2 run to send it to the break with the Cougars leading 32-26.
Charleston stretched their lead back to ten points at 40-30 shortly after coming out of the half and eventually pushed to an 11-point advantage, 45-34, with 12:11 to play before Furman notched consecutive buckets to pull to within 45-38 and set the stage for the Cougars game-deciding run.
Freshman center Lakyn Ledford led the attack for the Paladins as she posted a team-high 13 points and seven rebounds while leading scorer Lee Stephens was held to only nine points. She was joined there by senior forward Kali Holtfreter with nine points and freshman guard Raegan Thompson with seven.
Ericka Williams posted a game-high 19 points along with seven rebound to lead the College of Charleston while Jade Hughes drilled four of her five three-point attempts and finished with 16 points. Brooke Kotcella pulled down a career-best 14 rebounds and added seven points while senior center Deidra Jones (Irmo, S.C.) contributed 10 points and six boards.
For Kotcella, not only is the 14 rebounds a career-high but it also marks the third game in the last four that she has recorded double-figure rebounds. She notched 10 at UNC Greensboro on January 23 and followed that with a then career-high tying 12 boards at Elon on January 25.
The College of Charleston returns to action when they travel to Cullowhee, N.C. for a 7 p.m. game with the Western Carolina Catamounts on Monday, February 1.
