December 15, 2007

Boxscore

LAURINBURG, N.C.—For the second time this season the Saint Augustine’s College women’s basketball team rallied from a five-point second half deficit against St. Andrews Presbyterian College to win by 12 points; winning Saturday afternoon’s non-conference showdown in Harris Court by a final score of 55-43.

The Lady Falcons (6-2 Overall) went on a 24-6 run in the second half to win their fifth straight game and improve to 6-2 on the season. The Lady Knights dropped their home-opener falling to 1-4.

Both teams shot poorly in the first half with each squad only scoring 21 points in the first 20 minutes. SAPC made 8-of-39 (20.5%) attempts including only 2-of-15 (13.3%) from three-point distance while Saint Augustine’s converted on 8-of-28 (28.6%) and 1-for-9 (11.1%) from behind the arc.

Falcons’ freshman Chanel Kinard (Richmond, Va.) led all players into the locker room with nine points. The Knights were able to keep the scored deadlocked at 21-21 behind six points from junior Desiree Jones (Tulsa, Okla.) and 11 and eight rebounds from seniors Danielle Norman (Bronx, N.Y.) April Johnson (McColl, S.C.).

Senior Erika Thompson (Kalamazoo, Mich.) hit a three-pointer with just over 15 minutes left in the game to extend the Knights slim lead to five, 32-27. However, senior Erica Knox (Atlanta, Ga.) scored the next five points for the visitors to tie the contest for the 10th and final time. Knox’ five points started the 24-6 run over the next 11-plus minutes. Knox, who scored 16 of her game-high 19 points in the second, capped the surge with a lay-up to give Saint Augustine’s its largest lead of the game at 13 points (51-38). The two squads played the final couple minutes evenly as the Falcons went on to take the 12-point victory.

The Lady Falcons made 40-percent (12-for-30) of their shots in the final period while SAPC was held to 28.6% (8-for-28). For the game, Saint Augustine’s shot 34.5% whereas the Knights shot 23.9% from the field, 14.3% from long range, and 47.1% from the free throw line. Both teams committed 26 turnovers with 16 of St. Andrews’ coming in the second half.

Freshman Allison Sikes (Richmond, Va.) helped the Falcons to a 51-49 edge on the boards with a team-high 12 rebounds. Kinard just missed a double-double with nine points and nine boards. Freshman Whitney Griffis (Richmond, Va.) bucketed 13 points while crashing the glass for eight boards. Knox had a game-high six steals to go along with her 19 points.

Norman grabbed a game and season-high 16 rebounds for the Knights while Johnson pulled down a career-high 13. Thompson scored nine of her team-high 12 points in the second half while also making a team-high five steals. Norman tallied seven points and Johnson had three blocks.

St. Andrews will next compete in two games at the Travel America Classic in Highland Heights, Kentucky. The Lady Knights will tip-off against Kentucky Wesleyan College on Monday at 5:30 p.m. and then wrap-up play for 2007 against host and No. 13 nationally ranked Northern Kentucky University on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.