November 30, 2006

Contributed by Mount Olive Sports Information

Boxscore

MOUNT OLIVE, N.C.—Junior transfer Danielle Norman (Bronx, N.Y.) scored 15 points for visiting St. Andrews Presbyterian College and drew a charging foul late in the game to thwart a Trojan rally as the Lady Knights pulled out a 58-53 Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference women’s basketball victory at Kornegay Arena Thursday evening.

Mount Olive (1-3 overall, 0-2 CVAC) jumped out to a 6-0 lead and held St. Andrews scoreless for more than four minutes into the contest, but the Knights rallied for six unanswered points to tie the game. Keona Corley’s basket started another six-point run for the Trojans and Tomeka Prichard’s layup with 3:18 remaining matched Mount Olive’s biggest advantage at 24-18. The Lady Knights got as close as three points before the Trojans went into the locker room with a 28-23 halftime lead.

St. Andrews (4-1, 2-0) opened the second half with an 8-0 run as junior forward April Johnson’s (McColl, S.C.) basket with 18:14 gave the Knights their first lead of the game. T. Prichard then scored eight points in Mount Olive’s 10-2 run as her three-pointer gave the Trojans a 38-33 lead with 14:28 remaining. Prichard has hit at least one three-point field goal in 20 of her last 21 games.

The lead changed hands 11 times in the second half before senior guard Ashley Mitchell’s (Washington, D.C.) basket with 6:16 remaining put St. Andrews on top for good 51-50. Both teams were limited to one field goal the rest of the way. Trailing 57-53 with eight seconds left in the game, the Trojans thought they had cut the lead to two when Corley drove the lane, but Norman drew the charge and the basket was disallowed.

Turnovers were a key for both teams, as Mount Olive scored 20 points off of 27 St. Andrews turnovers, while the Knights turned 21 Trojan turnovers into 21 points.

Senior guard Marquita Prichard (Havelock, N.C.), older sister of Tomeka, narrowly missed a double-double for St. Andrews with nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds off the bench. Norman pulled down six boards to go along with her team-high 15 points. Four other Lady Knights scored seven points apiece including Mitchell, Johnson, junior guard Erika Thompson (Kalamazoo, Mich.), and junior forward Jessy Perkins (Goldsboro, N.C.). Senior forward Diana Martinez (Woodbridge, Va.) grabbed eight boards while Thompson had a team-high five assists.

T. Prichard scored 13 of her game-high 19 points in the second half for Mount Olive. Corley finished with 11 points for the Trojans, while Alisa Jones and Jill Oaks shared team-high honors with seven rebounds apiece.

Mount Olive returns to action Saturday as the Trojans play host to Limestone in a CVAC match-up. Tip-off is 2 p.m. at Kornegay Arena. St. Andrews entertains Erskine Saturday at 2 p.m. in CVAC action.