William & Mary 74, Davidson 63
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The Davidson women's basketball opened up a 23-point lead to start the game, but a cold spell late in the second half allowed William & Mary to earn the comeback win with a 74-63 victory over the Wildcats on Sunday afternoon at Kaplan Arena.
Despite putting at least three players in double figures in points for the second time this year, Davidson fell to 0-4 in the 2009 campaign. William & Mary improved to 2-1 with their second home win of the season.
Leading the charge again was senior Alex Thompson (Asheville, N.C.) with a team-best 15 points, the fourth time in as many games she has eclipsed the double-digit mark in points. The senior has gone for at least 10 points now in her last eight games dating back to last year.
Also hitting the double-figure mark was Ashley Lax (Little Rock, Ark.) and freshman Sophia Aleksandravicius (Pound Ridge, N.Y.) with 14 and 10 points, respectively. Lax helped the Wildcats hit a season-best seven treys with four of her own, while Aleksandravicius hauled in six of the team's season-high 45 rebounds, including 15 of those boards coming on the offensive glass, also a season-high.
The Tribe countered Davidson's three double-digit scorers with four of their own, led by Janine Aldridge's 18 points. She got 12 of them from behind the arc as William & Mary drained nine three-balls in all.
Aldridge came up big for the Tribe in the last seven minutes, hitting the tying layup off a steal at the 6:54 mark, then later draining back-to-back three-pointers to give W&M a 67-59 edge and finishing out the Tribe comeback with the last two points on free throws to close out the scoring at 74-63. She scored 10 points in all during that run.
Davidson's cold spell hit at the 9:18 mark of the second half with it leading 57-53 as the 'Cats watched William & Mary rattle off a 21-6 run to end the game. The Tribe frustrated the Wildcats with a full-court press on defense that forced them into 16 turnovers, resulting in 22 second-half points off those turnovers for W&M.
The 'Cats also hit just two field goals, a Lax three-pointer and a Sarah Davis (St. Clair, Mich.) layup, over a nine minute stretch that allowed the Tribe to chip away at the lead.
On the heels of a strong finish on Friday at N.C. State, the Wildcats carried that momentum into the start of Sunday's contest clicking on all cylinders. They raced out a 13-5 lead behind Thompson's seven points before the first break in the action at the 15:20 mark.
Out of the break, the hot shooting continued as the 'Cats pushed their 7-0 run to a 19-0 stretch that gave them a commanding 24-5 advantage, forcing a quick Tribe timeout at the 12:33 mark. During that stetch, Davidson lit up the nets for a 58.8 percent shooting mark, nailing 10-of-17 field goals, while holding William & Mary scoreless for over six minutes of action.
Davidson maintained its lead the rest of the way and headed in halftime up
43-35 after a last-second three-pointer by Katherine DeHenzel of W&M at the buzzer.
The 'Cats finished the half shooting close to 49 percent and dished out 13 of their game-high 17 assists. They also forced 10 Tribe turnovers that they converted into 15 points.
The post duo of Julia Paquette (Stockbridge, Ga.) and Kristen Johnsen (Wayne, Pa.) combined for 13 of the bench's 15 points and hauled in 14 total rebounds. Paquette, who was perfect from the floor, finished with a team-high nine boards on the day.
Emily Correal and Jaclyn McKenna of W&M nearly had their second straight double doubles. Correal pulled down 11 rebounds to go with her eight points, while McKenna netted 12 points and ended with eight boards.
Taysha Pye and DeHenzel each hit for 16 points to round out the four Tribe scorers in double digits.
Davidson next heads to Wilmington, N.C. for the holiday weekend, Nov. 27-28, when it plays at the UNC Wilmington Thanksgiving Tournament.
Game Notes: This afternoon's game was the fourth of eight straight road contests for Davidson to open the season ... today's meeting between the Wildcats and Tribe was the first since December 10, 2000 ... W&M is now 4-0 in the all-time series ... Davis earned her second collegiate start, finishing with seven points and six rebounds ... fellow freshman Aleksandravicius also started for the second time and registered at least one block for the fourth straight game.
Kentucky 65, Chattanooga 55
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Chattanooga women's basketball team fell 65-55 to Kentucky at Memorial Coliseum on the University of Kentucky campus Sunday evening. It was the fourth meeting between the two teams since 2005, but the first in the regular season.
The Lady Mocs fall to 1-3 on the year for the first time since the 2005-06 season and Kentucky runs its record to 4-0 on the year.
In the first half, Kentucky got on the board with the first bucket, but the Lady Mocs went on a 9-0 run to take a seven-point lead. Kentucky would cut it to just two points in less than a minute and the score would not vary more than four points either way.
With 5:53 to play in the first half, the Wildcats would regain the lead on a put back by Brittany Henderson and then get their largest lead of the half at 22-19 on a layup from A'dia Mathies. Michelle Davis (Cleveland, Tenn.) hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to tie it up 22-22 and the game would seesaw back and forth until Shanara Hollinquest (Sylacauga, Ala.) hit a layup with less than a minute to play to knot the game at halftime 26-26.
The Lady Mocs used a 13-4 run to start the second half and take a 39-30 lead over the Wildcats, but Kentucky would roar back to retake the lead on a 10-0 run over the next 2:23.
The game would bounce back and forth at that point with UTC taking the lead four more times before Kentucky made a push and never looked back. The Wildcats outscored Chattanooga 12-2 over the next four minutes to stretch its lead to 61-51 with 3:32 to play.
The Lady Mocs cut the lead to six at 61-55 over the next minute on layins from Hollinquest and freshman Kayla Christopher (Oliver Springs, Tenn.), but Kentucky would get both back for the final 65-55 score.
Hollinquest led all scorers with 18 points and 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the year and second against an SEC opponent in as many games. Davis was the only other Chattanooga player in double figures with a career-high 13 points that included three 3-pointers.
Christopher pulled down a career-best 12 rebounds, 10 in the first half and dropped in eight points for the Lady Mocs going 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
The Lady Mocs outrebounded the Wildcats 40-32 and had nine offensive boards and seven second chance points to UK's six.
Kentucky was paced by Mathies with 14 points and five boards while Victoria Dunlap was held to just 12 points and four boards, well off her averages in both categories. Rebecca Gray and Brittany Henderson each chipped in 10 points for Kentucky who scored 28 points off 24 UTC turnovers.
The Lady Mocs went 19-for-52 (36.5) from the field and made 5-of-23 (21.7) attempts from beyond the arc. Kentucky shot 39.3 percent from the field making 24-of-61 and went 4-for-24 from the 3-point line.
The Lady Mocs will return to action following the Thanksgiving holiday as they host the DoubleTree Classic Nov. 27-Nov. 28 at the McKenzie Arena. The first game will feature Evansville and Villanova at 5 p.m. The Lady Mocs will take on Kennesaw State in the nightcap.
Chattanooga has never played the Owls or the Purple Aces. UTC's lone game against Villanova was a first-round win in the 2005 WNIT at the Roundhouse. Call the McKenzie Arena box office at 423-266-6627 (MOCS) to get your tickets or log onto the official website of UTC athletics, GoMocs.com.
NOTES:
- Lady Mocs 1-3 overall - first time since 2005-06 season
- Kayla Christopher had a career-high 12 rebounds
- Shanara Hollinquest's third double-double of the year (18 pts. 11 rbs)
- Michelle Davis' career-high 13 points
- Kylie Lambert career-high 7 points.
- Christopher and Lambert combined to go 6-for-6 from the free throw line.
- Second loss to SEC school in as many games (fell to Georgia 11/19)
- UTC is 0-7 against Kentucky (0-5 in Lexington)