Davidson 62, Georgia Southern 56
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Led by junior Mercedes Robinson's (Baltimore, Md.) third straight double-double, and sixth of her career, the Wildcat women's basketball team scored a 62-56 Southern Conference win over Georgia Southern in both teams’ SoCon opener on Thursday at Belk Arena. Davidson improved to 3-2 on the season and started SoCon play 1-0 for the second straight season, while GSU fell to 2-5 overall and 0-1 in league play.
For the third straight contest, Robinson led the Wildcats in scoring with 15 points and paced the team with 11 rebounds on her way to her third straight double-double. The junior went 6-of-10 from the field and nailed three of her four free throw attempts. During the three-game double-double streak, Robinson is averaging 16.6 points per game and hauling in an even 11 boards.
Robinson connected on a big three-point play in the second half when the Eagles had cut the Wildcats' lead from 33-20 to 37-34 with a 14-4 run with 14:12 left in the game. After sophomore Alex Thompson (Asheville, N.C.) connected on a jumper on Davidson's previous possession, she brought the ball down on a missed jumper from GSU and fed the ball into Robinson, who spun around her defender, and laid the ball up and in while getting fouled. She completed the three-point play with the free throw and Davidson increased its lead to 46-36 with 12:17 remaining.
The sophomore duo of Thompson and Julia Paquette (Stockbridge, Ga.) gave the Wildcats a total of three players in double digits with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Thompson had her usual solid game at point position, hauling in four boards, dishing out three assists and pocketing a steal to go along with her 12 points in 30 minutes of action. Paquette pulled down six boards and was a force in the paint on defense with a career-high three blocks.
Davidson's defense was stifling in the first half as the 'Cats held Georgia Southern to 8-for-29 from the floor and 0-for-4 from behind the three-point line.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 15-4 lead to start the game as senior Danielle Hemerka (Blackwood, N.J.) and Paquette combined to score nine points during the stretch. Davidson increased the margin to 27-15 on a baseline jumper by Robinson with 3:40 left in the half and wound up holding a 29-18 advantage at the break.
Georgia Southern's Ashley Melson did her best to keep the Eagles in the contest as she scored 18 of her game-high 24 points in the second period. In the closing minutes she scored 10 of GSU's final 14 points, including a three-ball that brought the Eagles within five, 61-56, with 36 seconds left on the clock.
The Wildcats' biggest lead of the game came at the 6:57 mark of the second half when Paquette hit a runner in the lane to push the lead out to 55-42 and Davidson would maintain a lead of at least eight points until the final minute.
Also having solid all-around games for Davidson was both Hemerka and fellow senior Honna Housley (Riceville, Tenn.). Hemerka finished with eight points, six boards and dished out a game-high five assists, while pocketing a couple of steals.
Housley, making her second straight of the season, hustled her way to six points, five rebounds and two steals. She also dished out three assists as Davidson as a team assisted on 13 of its 22 total field goals.
The Wildcats return to action Sunday when they host local rival Winthrop at 2:30 p.m. in John M. Belk Arena.
Game Notes: Davidson head coach Annette Watts was presented a ball for recording her 100th career win on Nov. 16 at UNC Asheville prior to the game. It was the home opener for Davidson and the conference opener for both teams. It was the earliest league opener for the Wildcats since the 2004-05 campaign. Davidson improved to 5-2 in home openers under Watts and ran its home winning streak to three straight dating back to Feb. 13, 2007.
Charleston Southern 55, College of Charleston 53
Charleston, S.C. ? The College of Charleston women’s basketball team trailed by as much as 12 in the second half and rallied to cut the margin to one with under a minute to play, only to fall short as the game-winner bounced off the rim at the buzzer to give Charleston Southern the 55-53 win in front of 326 fans tonight at the John Kresse Arena.
Charleston falls to 0-4 on the season, while Charleston Southern improves to 3-4.
Both teams started the game shooting poorly, with the Bucs holding the slight advantage in percentage, 28.1 to 25.7 for the half. The score remained close for the first seven minutes with the Cougars holding within a few points of the Bucs, but not able to get ahead. Leading 16-15 with 6:51 to go before intermission, Charleston Southern went on a 13-2 run over the next six minutes to take the 12-point 29-17 lead with 1:08 to go. Ericka Williams cut the margin to nine with a three-pointer at the 45 second mark for the final score of the half, as the Cougars trailed 29-20.
Charleston Southern built its lead back up to 12 over the first seven minutes of the second half and led 42-30 with 13:24 to go in the game. Charleston slowly began to chip away at the lead as Deidra Jones came alive, scoring 10 of the Cougars’ 23 points during its 23-13 run over the final 13 minutes of the game. Trailing by six, 54-48, with 32 seconds remaining, Brooke Kotcella nailed a three-pointer to cut the margin to just three. After Charleston Southern missed a free throw, Tonia Gerty cut the deficit to one off a layup with seven seconds on the clock. The Cougars fouled and CSU made the first free throw and missed the second. The Bucs would recover the rebound but stepped out of bounds to give the Cougars the ball with six seconds left. Gerty took the ball down the court, and took the shot from just outside the three-point arc on the left side as time expired. The ball missed off the back of the rim to give the Bucs the 55-53 win.
Charleston put together a strong shooting effort in the second half, using a 42.9 percentage to finish the game with 34.3 percent. Charleston Southern shot 31.7 percent for the game. The Cougars held the rebounding edge 51-47 and had just three more turnovers, 15-12. Both teams struggled from the perimeter, with the Cougars three-for-22 and the Bucs, 4-for-11. Free throws played a major role as Charleston Southern ended with an 11-for-18 effort, and the Cougars, just two-for-eight.
Pam Tolbert led in points for CSU with 15, while Shaunte Small led in rebounds with 10. Leading the Cougars was Jill Furstenburg with 14. Deidra Jones followed with a career-high tying 12 points and 11 rebounds for her first career double-double. Erika Smith paced the team defensively with four blocks on the night
Charleston Southern heads up I-26 for its next game, traveling to Columbia, S.C., to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks, Tuesday, Dec. 4th in a 7:00 p.m. contest. The Cougars continue their home stand with a 2:00 p.m. contest, Saturday, Dec. 4th, against Presbyterian.