January 06, 2007

Boxscore

ANDERSON, S.C.—St. Andrews Presbyterian College rallied from a late 19-point deficit and got to with three points of CVAC pre-season favorite Anderson University, but the Lady Trojans held on for an 87-79 women’s basketball victory on Saturday afternoon in the Abney Center.

AU, who is receiving nine votes in the current national poll, won its 10th straight game to improve to 10-1 on the season while remaining perfect in the CVAC at 4-0. The Lady Knights, who had their five-game win streak snapped, fell to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in league play.

Anderson built a double-digit lead in the first half by scoring 16 points on 16 SAPC turnovers. Juniors Latrice Thomas (Graniteville, S.C.) and Haley Riffle (Tybee Island, Ga.) bucketed 11 and 10 points, respectively, in the opening frame to give the Lady Trojans a commanding 48-33 halftime advantage.

Senior Ashley Mitchell (Washington, D.C.) led the visitors with 11 first half points.

AU built its lead to 17 (56-39) early in the second half but a 10-0 run by the Lady Knights that included six points by senior Karen Foggie (Charlotte, N.C.) pulled St. Andrews to within seven, 56-49, with 12 minutes left.

However, the Lady Trojans responded with a 12-0 run over the next three minutes to regain control of the contest and pull out to a 19-point lead (68-49). Anderson looked to have things under control maintaining its largest advantage of the day, 75-56, with 4:41 to go. But SAPC went on to out score Anderson 23-12 in the last four-plus minutes to make things interesting.

A Mitchell two-point basket with 36 seconds left in the game concluded a 23-7 St. Andrews run to pull the Lady Knights to within three, 82-79. Nonetheless, St. Andrews was forced to foul late and the Lady Trojans converted on 5-of-8 free throws in the final 30 seconds to pull out the eight-point victory, 87-79.

Anderson capitalized on 30 Knights turnovers with 32 points. AU also connected on 22-of-41 (54.0%) field goals and an impressive 34-of-40 (85.0%) free throws. St. Andrews went 21-for-42 (50.0%) from the floor and 6-for-8 (75.0%) from the three-point line.

Foggie led all scorers with a game-high and season-high 22 points including 11-of-12 made shots from the charity stripe. Mitchell drilled a career-high 17 points and Thompson added 14 points. Junior April Johnson (McColl, S.C.) chipped in with seven points, seven boards, four blocks, and three steals.

Junior Mikala Fogle-Wilson (Columbia, S.C.) led the Lady Trojans with a team-high 21 points. Riffle and Thomas finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively, while sophomores Genia Holbrook (Toccoa, Ga.) and Keana Boyd (Newberry, S.C.) each had 10 points. Holbrook also had seven boards and six steals.

St. Andrews will try and bounce back on Monday evening when they host CVAC foe Limestone College with first-tip slated for 5:30 p.m.