Davidson 69, Longwood 53
DAVIDSON, N.C. - The senior duo of Julia Paquette (Stockbridge, Ga.) and Alex Thompson (Asheville, N.C.) combined for 30 points to pace four starters in double figures and Davidson rolled to yet another win in evening its overall record with a 69-53 victory over visiting Longwood in women¹s basketball action during a mid-week game at Belk Arena.
Davidson (7-7) continued its hot streak in the victory column, making it five in row, four of the wins coming at home, and tallying its seventh win overall in the last eight games.
Paquette and Thompson scored 15 points apiece, with Paquette just missing a double-double with eight rebounds, while Thompson dished out a game-high six assists. The duo combined to shoot 12-of-16 from the floor, with Thompson adding three buckets from behind the arc in four attempts.
Freshman Sophia Aleksandravicius (Pound Ridge, N.Y.) tallied yet another double-double in the winning effort with 11 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. She has now reached the double-double mark in four straight games, and six overall this season.
Junior Ashley Lax (Little Rock, Ark.) rounded out the quartet with 12 points, her second game in a row in double figures and the 30th of her career.
Longwood (4-13) had three reach double figures in points led by Crystal Smith¹s 15 to go along with a game-high five steals.
The 'Cats, playing their third game in a five-day stretch, broke open a 14-13 contest with a 13-0 run in a five-minute span to take a 27-13 lead with 6:21 left in the first half.
Aleksandravicius started the rally with a jumper and Paquette closed it with a layup in the paint. The senior then pushed the lead out to 33-16 a few minutes later on another bucket inside, two of her 10 points in the half, and Davidson had its biggest lead.
Davidson closed out the half shooting 55.6 percent (15-27) and went into the break with a 35-23 lead. The Wildcats finished the game shooting 46.7 percent overall, their third straight game of shooting over 40 percent from the field.
Two Smith free throws a minute and half into the start of the second half cut the Davidson lead down to eight at 35-27, but a three-pointer and a driving layup from Lax pushed the Wildcat lead back to double digits at 40-27 with 17:22 on the clock.
The lead would grow to as many as 17 points on three occasions, before Longwood made one last charge. The Lancers went on an 11-2 run midway through the second half to bring themselves within eight at 61-53 after a Krystal Garrision three-ball with 4:42 left on the clock.
Two possessions later, a Lax layup pushed the lead back to 10, and Davidson was not threatened again, getting a three-point play from Aleksandravicius with 17 seconds remaining to close out the game at 69-53.
Davidson's defense held the Lancers to just 30 percent shooting, the fifth game this year it has held the opposition to under 35 percent. The 'Cats were also very active on the boards, hitting the 50-rebound mark for the second time this season, and second in the past three games.
Davidson and its five-game win streak will be tested in its next game when the Wildcats play host to Samford in a key Southern Conference matchup on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Wildcats are currently in first place in the league at 5-1, while Samford is 5-2.
Game Notes: Davidson is in the midst of playing five games in a 10-day span, with tonight¹s game being game No. 3 ... Aleksandravicius has registered four of her six double doubles at home ... of the Wildcats¹ 50 rebounds tonight, 17 of them were on the offensive end, a new season-high ... the Wildcats scored 44 of their 69 points in the paint ... with the win, Davidson improved to 2-6 vs. non-conference opponents this season ... the four straight wins at home is the longest since a seven-game streak during the 2007-08 season and into the 2008-09 season ... the Wildcats, who have had eight different lineups, are 4-0 when the starting lineup is Thompson, Paquette, Lax, Aleksandravicius and Monica Laune
Richmond 78, Appalachian State 56
BOONE, N.C.- Despite heading into halftime down by just nine points, Appalachian State University women's basketball was unable to keep pace with Atlantic 10 foe Richmond Wednesday evening, as the Mountaineers dropped a 78-56 decision to the Spiders. The loss snaps a three-game winning streak for the Apps and moves ASU to 7-7 on the season, while RU improves to an impressive 11-4 overall.
A 17-2 Spider run in the opening minutes of the first half made it tough for the Black and Gold to rebound, as Appalachian found itself behind 21-8 half way through the first period.
The Spiders were paced by Nikita Thomas who scored six points during the streak, while Joyous Tharrington was productive offensively as well, chipping in six of her own as well.
ASU continued to battle, as buckets by Courtney Freeman and Ashlen Dewart cut ASU's deficit to just eight points, making the score 28-20 with a little under six minutes to play in the first.
Dewart yet again was a dominant post presence for the Black and Gold, pouring in a team-best 15 points along with grabbing four boards. The contest marked the 12th time in 14 games that Dewart finished in double-figure scoring and the ninth time the freshman led ASU in the category.
Four more Dewart points and a Canesha Edwards jumper made it a seven-point contest, the closest since the early goings of the game, but a final first-half layup by the Spiders put ASU down 39-30 at the break.
In one of her best outings of the season, Edwards finished the game with a team-high 11 rebounds, while recording eight points.
The second half opened on a strong note, with Anna Freeman drilling a trey, to cut Richmond's advantage to six points, but a 9-2 run by Richmond put the contest out of reach for Appalachian.
Brittani Shells was unstoppable for the Spiders, scoring eight of Richmond's points during the run.
Shells finished the evening with a game-high 19 points and six steals.
Although, Appalachian posted a solid effort, the Apps could not come any closer than 12 points and suffered a disappointing defeat to the Spiders.
The Mountaineers continue with their grueling 2009-10 campaign, as they host 2008-09 regular season Southern Conference champion Chattanooga, Saturday January 9 at 3 p.m. in the Holmes Center.