January 27, 2007

Boxscore

LAURBINBURG, N.C.—Junior guard Erika Thompson (Kalamazoo, Mich.) scored a season-high 19 points to lead host St. Andrews Presbyterian College to a 62-55 upset victory over No. 23 nationally ranked Anderson University in Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference women’s basketball action on Saturday afternoon in Harris Court.

The Lady Knights (12-4 Overall), who are ranked No. 3 in the East Region, held off the No. 2 regionally ranked Trojans (15-3 Overall) by dominating the glass 47-27 and scoring 20 second-chance points on 20 offensive rebounds. With the victory, St. Andrews is tied for second with Anderson in the CVAC standings with matching 9-2 conference records. The Lady Knights remained perfect at home, 7-0, on the season by shooting 42.1% (24-for-57) from the field while the Trojans shot 34.5% (19-for-55).

“This is an outstanding team effort from top to bottom,” said third-year head coach David Johnson. “Our goals going into the game was to rebound the basketball and to limit turnovers to avoid breakaway layups. That was two big key stats that we won at the end of the game.”

Saturday’s win against Anderson was the Knights first win against a nationally ranked team under Coach Johnson.

“This does a lot for our confidence,” explained Johnson. “We really feel we have a great team and a playoff caliber team. The wins against Barton and Anderson are starting to give us the confidence to compete with anybody in the country.”

St. Andrews pulled out to a commanding 23-11 lead by holding Anderson to just three made field goals in the first 14 minutes and 40 seconds. The Lady Trojans out scored the Knights 12-7 in the final five-plus minutes of the first half to pull within seven, 30-23, at halftime. AU only converted on 28% of their shots in the opening frame while SAPC drained 44%.

Lady Trojan senior Deidra Langston (Gainesville, S.C.), who leads the CVAC in scoring, posted 19 of her game-high 21 points in the second half to keep the visitors within striking distance. Anderson started the second half on a 15-8 run over the first seven minutes. Langston sparked the run with seven points in that span to deadlock the score at 38-38.

Thompson ended the Trojan rally with a jumper on the next possession to put the Knights back on top for good. St. Andrews extended the advantage to 55-47 with 4:36 left but after an Anderson timeout, the Lady Trojans went on an 8-2 run to pull within two points with just two minutes remaining. Senior Diana Martinez (Woodbridge, Va.) doubled the Knights lead with a layup on the ensuing play and AU was held scoreless in the final two minutes missing a trio of three-pointers and committing two turnovers on their final five possessions.

“We got good post presence all game as our post players rebounded well, blocked shots, closed out on their three-point shooters,” added Johnson. “I am glad to see us finally pull out a close one and finally finish off a game against a talented nationally ranked team.”

Junior Daniel Norman (Bronx, N.Y.) posted her fifth double-double of the season for St. Andrews. Norman followed Thompson’s 19 points by bucketing 17 of her own while grabbing a game-high and career-high 18 rebounds.

“Norman was unreal,” expressed Johnson. “Our goal was to send all five of our players to the board. We wanted to gain possession before anything else and we did a great job boxing out and corralling the boards to gain possession of the ball.”

Knights senior Ashley Mitchell (Washington, D.C.) added 10 points, a game-high six assists, and a team-high three steals. Martinez finished with six points.

Sophomore Keana Boyd (Newberry, S.C.) was the only other Trojans to score in double-digits with 11 points including a game-high three 3-pointers. Sophomore Genia Holbrook (Toccoa, Ga.) grabbed a team-high six boards while Boyd dished out four assists.

St. Andrews will go for their ninth consecutive win in Harris Court when they host CVAC foe Queens University of Charlotte on Monday at 5:30 p.m.

“To win a conference championship you have to protect home court,” concluded Johnson.