November 29, 2007

Boxscore

MISENHEIMER, N.C.—Seniors Erika Thompson (Kalamazoo, Mich.) and Danielle Norman (Bronx, N.Y.) scored a combined 49 points for visiting St. Andrews Presbyterian College, but host Pfeiffer University rallied to the 82-74 Conference Carolinas women’s basketball victory on Thursday night.

The Lady Falcons, the defending regular season and tournament champions, trailed by three at halftime but scored 48 points in the second half to improve to 3-4 overall and 1-1 in Conference Carolinas play. Thirty-six turnovers cost the Lady Knights their first win of the season as they fell to 0-3 and 0-2.

Thompson scored 18 of her game-high 28 points in the first half to give the Knights a 37-34 advantage at halftime. SAPC trailed 33-30 with 75 seconds left in the first period but Thompson scored five straight points to catapult the visitors into the lead (marking the 12th lead change of the first 20 minutes). Pfeiffer got to within one before sophomore Franchaze Waters (Annapolis, Md.) hit a jumper in the final seconds to extend St. Andrews lead to three at the intermission.

Thompson drilled her only three-pointer just eight seconds into the second half to give SAPC its largest lead of the contest, 40-34. However, the Knights were held without a field goal for the next six minutes and Pfeiffer went on a 19-3 run in that span to take control of the game. Norman ended the drought with an offensive rebound and the put-back but Lauren Brittingham tallied the next five points to give Pfeiffer its largest lead, 58-45, with just over 12 minutes left.

St. Andrews fought back and a pair of made free throws by junior Desiree Jones (Tulsa, Okla.) inched the Knights to within three with 8:30 left. The Falcons once again increased their lead to double-digits before SAPC stormed back one final time. Freshman Lalita Middleton (North Charleston, S.C.) capped the 10-2 rally with two made free throws to cut the deficit to four, 75-71, with 64 seconds remaining but Pfeiffer sealed the victory with seven made freebees in the final minute.

Thompson finished one point shy of her career-high of 29 by swishing 10-of-16 shots and 7-of-11 free throws. Norman scored a season-high 21 points with an impressive 9-for-10 showing from the charity stripe. Norman recorded her second straight double-double in conference play with a game-high 13 rebounds. Middleton reached double digits for the second straight game with 10 points.

The Knights -- who won the battle of the boards 65-49 -- got 12 rebounds from senior April Johnson (McColl, S.C.), eight from Thompson, and seven from freshman Kristin Zipkin (Canton, Ga.).

SAPC was held to 35-percent shooting. The Knights only managed to make 1-of-12 (8.3%) attempts from behind the arc while Pfeiffer hit 11 three-pointers. Brittingham, who finished with a team-high 27 points for the Falcons, hit five treys.

St. Andrews visits non-conference Chowan University on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. in Murfreesboro, N.C.