March 2, 2007

Boxscore

MISENHEIMER, N.C.—No. 1 seed and host Pfeiffer University made 15 steals and scored 33 points off turnovers to defeat No. 4 seed St. Andrews Presbyterian College 73-59 in the semifinals of the 2007 Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament on Friday afternoon in Merner Gymnasium.

The CVAC regular season champion and No. 2 East Region ranked Lady Falcons improved to 25-4 on the year and will host the winner of the No. 2 Barton/No. 3 Anderson semifinal in the conference tournament finals on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. The No. 8 East Region ranked Lady Knights maintain a 20-9 overall record and will wait until Sunday night to find out if they will get an at-large bid to the 2007 NCAA Division II Tournament and East Regional.

The First Team All-CVAC duo of junior Raven Truslow (Charlotteville, Va.) and senior Tamara Clay (Willow Springs, N.C.) led Pfeiffer to the victory with the two highest point totals of the day bucketing 23 and 19 points, respectively.

A senior Marquita Prichard (Havelock, N.C.) jumper gave St. Andrews an early 14-7 lead. The Lady Falcons answered with a 17-3 run midway through the first half to take a 24-17 advantage. Pfeiffer never relinquished the lead for the rest of the contest.

The Knights pulled back to within one late in the first period but back-to-back field goals by junior Kalee Smith (New Smyrna Beach, Fla.) and sophomore Lauren Brittingham (Washington, D.C.) extended the Falcon lead to five, 33-28, at halftime.

Truslow led Pfeiffer into the intermission with 11 points including a trio of three-pointers in the first half. SAPC out rebounded the PU 25-14 in the first 20 minutes but committed more turnovers, 12-7, and shot worse. Pfeiffer made 43.3-percent of their field goal attempts in the opening stanza while the Knights were held to 34.5%.

The Falcons jumped out of the locker room with a 15-2 surge in the first seven minutes of the second half to build a commanding 18-point advantage (48-30) with 13 minutes left. St. Andrews was held to just 1-of-9 shooting to start the second period while also turning the ball over nine times in that same span.

The Knights kept their composure and showed how they earned their first 20-win season in the programs 12-year NCAA Division II era by battling back. SAPC trimmed the 18-point deficit down to six points with a 21-9 rally over the next six-plus minutes capped by a senior Ashley Mitchell (Washington, D.C.) offensive rebound and lay-up.

After the two regionally ranked teams traded a pair of points, Clay drilled a huge three-pointer with exactly five minutes left that supplied the spark Pfeiffer needed to hold off the feisty Knights.

SAPC made one last late charge in the final couple of minutes, pulling to within seven after a 5-0 run with 59 seconds to go but the Falcons converted on 7-of-8 free throws in the final minute to pull away for the 14-point victory.

Thirty-one turnovers doomed St. Andrews as Pfeiffer turned them into 33 points. The Knights won the battle of the boards, 53-37, but were held to 27.3% shooting in the final 20 minutes. For the game the Falcons shot 40.3% while SAPC converted on 30.6%.

Truslow just missed a double-double pulling down nine boards to go along with her game-high 23 points. Clay added a team-high four steals with her 19 points. Smith chipped in with 11 points and seven rebounds.

Mitchell and senior Karen Foggie (Charlotte, N.C.), both 2007 CVAC Honorable Mention selections, each had 13 points to lead the Knights offensively. Foggie finished with a double-double tallying a game-high 11 rebounds and four steals. Junior Danielle Norman (Bronx, N.Y.), a Second Team All-CVAC honoree, followed with nine points and seven boards.