January 10, 2008

Boxscore

LAURINBURG, N.C.—Trailing by one point, junior guard Desiree Jones (Tulsa, Okla.) hit a three-pointer with 79 seconds left in the game to put host St. Andrews Presbyterian College on top for good and earn fourth year head coach David Johnson his 50th career win, defeating visiting Mount Olive College 56-52 in Conference Carolinas women’s basketball action on Thursday evening in Harris Court.

With the Lady Knights improving to 3-8 on the season and 2-3 in the league Johnson garnered his 50th win at SAPC. Johnson, who maintains a career record over .500 at 50-48, is already St. Andrews winningest coach in the programs 13 year NCAA Division II era. The Trojans fell to 5-7 overall and 3-2 in the conference.

Mount Olive held a seven-point lead at 52-45 with six minutes left but the Knights finished the game on a 11-0 run to take the victory. SAPC started the decisive run by taking advantage of four MOC fouls by converting on 6-of-8 free throws. Seniors Danielle Norman (Bronx, N.Y.) and April Johnson (McColl, S.C.) started it by each nailing a pair of free throws. Johnson added a her third straight made free throw and the Knights were able to corral the offensive rebound on her final missed attempt and Jones added another free throw to pull within one at 52-51 with 2:12 left.

The St. Andrews defense, that held the Trojans scoreless in the final six minutes, followed with its biggest defensive stand holding Mount Olive without a shot and causing a shot clock violation. On the ensuing possession and with the shot clock in single digits, Jones confidently took the clutch three-point to catapult the Knights into the lead, 54-52, with 1:19 remaining.

St. Andrews regained the ball and looked to kill a lot of the clock in the final minute but junior Brittney Robich (Rockingham, N.C.) made a big steal that set her self up for a fast break layup but her attempt just rimmed out. Mount Olive would be granted one last chance to tie the game after SAPC committed another turnover but another layup attempt missed. Norman grabbed the rebound and hit two more free throws with a couple ticks on the clock to put away the game.

“Our ability to bounce back from a tough loss on Monday and come back and defeat a solid Mount Olive team says a lot about our young team and shows signs of growth,” said Johnson. “We could have gotten down from the loss to Belmont Abbey but our ladies made up their minds in the locker room to keep working and that is what we did.”

The Trojans led for most of the first half and back-to-back baskets by senior Cameron, N.C., natives Lakeisha Monroe and Keona Corley in the final minute gave Mount Olive a 33-28 halftime advantage.

An old fashion three-point play by senior Jessy Perkins (Goldsboro, N.C.) pulled the Knights to within one, 39-38, with 13:19 left in the second half. SAPC finally grabbed its first lead of the second half on a Norman hoop just past the midway point of the final period but the Trojans responded with a 9-0 run over the next couple minutes to tie its largest lead of the night at eight, 50-42, with 7:12 left. However, the Knights held the Trojans to just one more made shot for the rest of the game and a three-pointer by freshman Franchaze Waters (Annapolis, Md.) started the Knights 14-2 surge.

SAPC dominated the boards, 49-39, but committed more turnovers, 23-10, that led to 26 Trojans points. The Knights shot 33.3% from the field while Mount Olive shot 31.9%. St. Andrews won the game by drawing fouls and making 23-of-30 (76.7%) of its attempts from the free throw line while the Trojans only made 2-of-11 (18.2%) FT.

Norman, the reigning Conference Carolinas Player of the Week, registered her seventh double-double in 11 tries with game-highs of both 16 points and 12 rebounds.

“Danielle (Norman) has been the heart and soul of our team and has done everything I have asked of her,” expressed Johnson. “She plays both the post and guard positions when I ask her and she does it with every ounce of energy possible. She gives us 40 minutes a game when needed while also encouraging our young players. She is a delightful and wonderful senior to have.”

Johnson just missed her own double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds.

“I had a talk with April (Johnson) and challenged her to be consistent and give us everything she has on both ends of the court and she did that for us tonight,” commented Johnson.

Jones was the third Knight in double digits with 11 points while Perkins chipped in with eight rebounds and six points.

“Desiree (Jones) has been playing 40 minutes a game for us and I tip my hat to her for doing it,” continued Johnson. “She has been running our team and has been playing good defense and has now picked up her scoring.”

Robich and sophomore Helen Moore (Kenly, N.C.) led the visitors with 12 points apiece while junior Alisa Jones (Fayetteville, N.C.) had a team-high nine rebounds. Corley had game-highs of six assists and four steals.

St. Andrews next hosts Conference Carolinas rival Anderson University on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. while Mount Olive travels to Banner Elk, N.C. for a league battle against Lees-McRae College at the same time.