January 26, 2008

Boxscore

LAURINBURG, N.C.—Senior forward Danielle Norman (Bronx, N.Y.) had game-highs of 23 points and 12 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the season as the host St. Andrews Presbyterian College women’s basketball team defeated Conference Carolinas rival Pfeiffer University 79-74 on Saturday afternoon in Harris Court.

The Lady Knights (5-12 overall; 4-7 Conference Carolinas) avenged an early season loss to the Lady Falcons (6-11; 3-7) and end a six-game skid against Pfeiffer over the past three years.

“It means a lot to the team to get two conference wins in the past three days,” said St. Andrews fourth year head coach David Johnson. “It gives our players the confidence that they can do it. It has been an up and down season and we really haven’t put together a win streak before this week.”

Senior forward April Johnson (McColl, S.C.) and junior Desiree Jones (Tulsa, Okla.) added 12 points apiece for St. Andrews while Johnson just missed her own double-double with eight rebounds. Johnson’s also made a game-high four steals.

Nine Lady Knights scored in the victory including nine points from freshman Kristin Zipkin (Canton, Ga.), eight from senior Erika Thompson (Kalamazoo, Mich.), and six from freshman Jacquelyn Adcock (Damascus, Md.). Jones dished out a game-high six assists while Zipkin tied her season-high of seven rebounds.

The two teams battled closely in the first half with six lead changes and six ties. Both squads held four-point advantages in the open stanza but neither team could extend their leads past four. Pfeiffer held a four-point edge heading into the final minute but a senior Jessy Perkins (Goldsboro, N.C.) lay-up with 17 seconds left cut the lead for the Falcons in half at the intermission.

The Falcons took a 38-36 lead into the locker room by shooting 44.8-percent from the field while going to the free throw line twice as much as the Knights. SAPC shot 40.5% in the opening 20 minutes with senior April Johnson (McColl, S.C.) leading all scorers with 10 points at the break.

For the second straight game St. Andrews broke open the game right after the intermission. This time SAPC went on a 25-7 run over the first eight minutes of the second half to take their largest lead of the game, 61-45. The Lady Knights built up their 16-point advantage by connecting on eight of their first 13 field goal attempts while eight different players scoring in the eight-minute surge.

“We focused on getting stops at halftime, as our offense is doing fine, and we executed well getting four of five stops early to get a big cushion,” explained Johnson.

St. Andrews continued to maintain a double-digit lead for most of the next 10 minutes and was still up 13 points heading into the final two and a half minutes but the Falcons held the Knights without a field goal for the rest of the game. However, Pfeiffer was only able to muster nine points in the final stretch drive and St. Andrews made four free throws in the final minute to hold on for the seven-point victory.

Norman, who missed a pair of games last week, returned with a vengeance posting three straight double-doubles this week including her game-highs of 23 points and 12 rebounds on Saturday. Norman also tallied three steals, two blocks, and two assists in the victory.

Both clubs hit five 3-pointers and shot 42.4-percent for the game while SAPC held a 42-38 rebounding edge and committed fewer turnovers, 18-15.

Johnson summed up the game, “Today’s win was a total team effort. We are starting to jell together and gain confidence and trust in each other. The team is running much more smoothly.”

A trio of Lady Falcons scored in double-digits with sophomore Octavia Trammell (Leesburg, Va.) leading the team with 15 points. Freshman Devona Knight (Woodbridge, Va.) just missed a double-double with 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds while sophomore Allegra Shanee’ Purnell (Woodbridge, Va.) also chipped in 13 points.

St. Andrews will next host their final non-conference game of the year against the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) on Monday evening at 6:00 p.m. while Pfeiffer entertains Conference Carolinas rival Mount Olive College on Monday at 5:30 p.m.