College of Charleston
Davidson
Cougars Succumb to Wildcats, 69-40
1/4/2011 2:07:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Four Wildcats scored in double-figures, while the Cougars struggled offensively with only one in the teens, to lead Davidson to the 69-40 win over the College of Charleston women's basketball team in front of 345 fans at Belk Arena in Davidson, N.C.
The first half saw scoring gaps by the Cougars and 17 turnovers, which resulted in 20 Davidson (5-6, 1-2) points. Charleston (4-9, 1-3) scored its first basket of the game at 16:06 when Tonia Gerty (Port Orange, Fla.) connected on a lay-up down 8-0. The Cougars scored few and far between the next seven minutes but found themselves just down by six, 17-11 with 9:07 to go, as the Wildcats were unable to capitalize offensively.
Charleston didn't score again until 1:14 off a jumper by Gerty as Davidson used a 12-0 run to take a 29-11 lead prior to her basket. That would be the last basket of the half for CofC as the Wildcats posted six more to go into the locker room with the 35-13 lead.
CofC shot just 23.1 percent from the field in the first half. Davidson faired a little better with a 34.5 percentage. The Cougars found foul trouble early as Davidson went to the line 18 times in the first 20 minutes, converting on 13 of them. Davidson had eight turnovers, resulting in just four Cougar points.
The Cougars cut the Davidson lead to 18 midway through the second half, 42-24 at 10:29, and looked to make a comeback but their scoring took another downturn and Davidson took advantage, outscoring CofC 16-6 over the next seven minutes to take the 58-30 lead with just 3:45 remaining. Charleston couldn't recover and settled for the eventual 29-point, 69-40 loss.
Leading the Cougars was Gerty with 11 points. She was followed by Alyssa Frye (Chester, Va.) with six. Janae Smith (Matteson, Ill.) and Deidre Ramer (Franklin, Tenn.) both paced the team in rebounds with five apiece. Sophia Aleksandravicius led Davidson with 16 points, followed by Shneeka Center with 12, Laura Murray with 11 and Jasmine Calin with 10. Center and Kristen Johnsen each led the Wildcats with seven rebounds.
Charleston improved its shooting slightly in the second half with a 29.6 percentage to end the game at 26.4. Davidson finished with 36.2 percent. Davidson dominated from the charity stripe, going 10-for-17 in the second half to finish the game 23-for-35. Charleston was just eight-of-16. The Wildcats held the 48-40 rebound margin and controlled the turnovers, 19-33.
Both teams struggled from the perimeter, with Charleston finishing at four-for-26 and Davidson, four-for-14.
The Cougars continue their six-game road trip with a trip to Boone, N.C. Wednesday, Jan. 5, to take on the Appalachian State Mountaineers in Southern Conference action. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
