CAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL RECAP - FEB. 4
Towson 53, Drexel 48
Box Score
TOWSON, Md. - On the eve of what is predicted to be the largest snowstorm of the year, Drexel saw enough "Snow"den to last the Dragons all winter as Haliena Snowden scored a career-high 21 points for the Tigers in the victory. Towson (10-11, 4-6 CAA) snapped a three-game losing streak with the 53-48 victory over the Dragons (14-7, 8-2 CAA).
"I was proud of our kids and the defensive effort they put up tonight," said Coach Joe Mathews. "I thought we came up with some key rebounds down the stretch and it feels good to get a victory."
The Tigers came out of the locker room, trailing by one to start the second half. After a quick jumper by the home team, Drexel went on a 12-5 run to take a 38-32 lead with 14:26 to play. Gabriela Marginean had half of Drexel's points during that stretch. The Tigers responded with a 6-0 spurt of their own to tie the game at 38-38 with 10:54 remaining in the contest. Marginean hit a jumper at 7:40 to put Drexel on top 40-38 but that was the last lead the Dragons would hold in the game.
A Snowden lay-up at 5:42 tied the game at 40-40. Just 39 seconds later, Snowden would hit a three-pointer to give Towson a 43-40 advantage. Those buckets jump started a 15-8 run by the Tigers to close out the 53-48 victory.
The Tigers and Dragons battled early in the first half as the score was tied at 13-13 with 10:04 to play. Towson took an 18-13 lead with 8:46 to play in the half, only to see the Dragons get five straight points from Marginean to tie the game. The two teams traded baskets over the next several minutes with a Kandace Davis lay-up at 3:06 tying the game at 23-23. Marisa Crane hit a pair of free throws with 1:35 remaining in the half to give Drexel a 25-23 advantage. The Tigers tied the score with one minute to play as Shanae Baker-Brice sunk a lay-up. Tyler Hale hit one of two from the charity stripe with :43 to play and sent Drexel to the locker room with a 26-25 lead.
Snowden pulled down eight rebounds, had four assists and four steals to go along with her career-high in the points column. Baker-Brice recorded the second "double-double" of her career with 12 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. She would also add five assists and two steals in the game. Katrina Wheeler matched her season-high with 15 rebounds while Davis moved into sixth place on the Tigers' career rebounding list as she now has 717 career boards.
Marginean led all scorers with 28 points and six rebounds. Kamile Nacickaite chipped in with 10 points and five boards while Hale grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
Towson returns to action when it hosts Northeastern on Sunday, February 7 at noon. That game will be televised on the Comcast Network.
James Madison 71, VCU 56
Box Score
RICHMOND, Va., Feb. 4, 2010 -- James Madison (7-3, 17-4) pulled away midway through the first half and went on to post a 71-56 win over league-leading Virginia Commonwealth (8-2, 15-6) in Colonial Athletic Association women's basketball Thursday evening at the Siegel Center.
Dukes' sophomore guard/forward Kiara Francisco (Lakeland, Fla./Winter Haven) came off the bench to lead JMU with career highs of 16 points and 11 rebounds. She connected on five of nine field-goal tries and was six-for-eight at the foul line.
Freshman guard Tarik Hislop (Silver Spring, Md./Paint Branch) added 15 points and redshirt senior guard Sarah Williams (Wilmington, Del./Ursuline Academy) scored 10.
VCU was led by Kita Waller with a game-high 14 points and eight rebounds. D'Andra Moss scored 14, and Courtney Hurt had a team-high nine rebounds.
The JMU defense limited VCU to its worst-shooting night of the year as the Rams hit only 26.5 percent (18-68) from the field.
In the opening half VCU scored seven unanswered points to break a 9-9 tie and go ahead 16-12 at the 10:07 mark. Moss, who scored eight of the Rams' first 16 points, had four points during the run.
JMU, however, scored the game's next 11 points to build a 23-16 lead with 7:10 on the clock. Five players tallied points, led by three points from junior guard Dawn Evans (Clarksville, Tenn./Northeast). Junior guard Courtney Hamner's (Manassas, Va./Osbourn Park) steal and ensuing layup finished off the run.
VCU got as close as three points twice before intermission, but the Dukes took a 32-24 lead into the locker room at halftime.
After the teams exchanged baskets to open the second half, JMU scored nine points in a row to push its lead to 43-26 on a three-pointer by Williams at 15:44. The Rams got no closer than 14 (the last time 50-36 at 10:36) the rest of the game.
Evans, who entered the game as the nation's second leading scorer (25.7 avg.), left the game at the 8:47 mark of the first half with an injury. She scored only five points in the game as her school-record streak of 52 games scoring in double-figures ended.
Old Dominion 61, UNC Wilmington 58
Box Score
WILMINGTON, N.C. - The Old Dominion Lady Monarchs (11-9, 9-1) took over sole possession of first place in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) with a 61-58 road victory against the UNC Wilmington Seahawks (7-14, 2-8). Elsewhere in the CAA, Drexel and VCU lost games to drop out of the three-way tie for first place in the league.
Sophomore Kquanise Byrd (St. Petersburg, Fla.) scored a career-high 13 points while junior Jasmine Parker (Norfolk, Va.) added 13 as well in the eighth straight win for ODU this season and the 41st straight against UNCW overall. Drexel dropped their second CAA game this season on the road against Towson and VCU fell at home to James Madison.
ODU trailed only once in the game, as the Seahawks scored six unanswered points from the free-throw line to take the lead early, 15-13, but junior Jasmine Parker would knock down a long three-pointer from the left wing and then a pull-up trey in transition moments later to give ODU a 19-15 lead and give ODU the momentum the rest of the half. Jackie Cook would hit one of her own to extend the lead to seven.
Old Dominion held the Seahawks without a field goal for over 10 minutes in the first half, from the 15:05 mark to under five minutes remaining. UNCW would hang in, by knocking down seven free-throws,, but ODU took a game-high 8-point lead in the span.
Brittany Blackwell would end the run with a fast-break layup with 4:46 remaining, sparking a 8-2 run for the Seahawks, but Old Dominion would extend the lead back to six at the break, 30-24.
In the second half, ODU struggled to extend the lead as Wilmington managed to keep the game within single-digits. A Treasure Johnson three-pointer with 7:49 remaining cut the lead to three, 49-46, and then a pair of free throws capped a 9-2 run to get back within one, 49-48.
The Lady Monarchs never trailed in the second half, but UNC Wilmington did come from eight back to tie with under five minutes to play, and kept the game a one-possession game for the final 7:51. UNCW leading scorer Brittany Blackwell knotted the score at 52 with 4:40 remaining with a layup on an assist from Martha White. On the other end, though, sophomore Mairi Buchan (Stirlingshire, Scotland) lined up a three from the top of the key and buried it to get the lead back for ODU.
Just two minutes later, it would be Parker knocking down her third of the ball game, coming deep from the top of the key as well. The seven-point lead with 2:28 to go would be contested though, as UNCW's Candace Walker was fouled during a make, her free-throw miss was rebounded by the Seahawks and Martha White scored her game-high 15th point with a bucket.
Walker got a steal on the other end and Blackwell's layup got Wilmington back within one with less than a minute to go. The Lady Monarchs turned the ball over again giving the Seahawks what appeared to be last shot in the game down one, 59-58. Out of the Lady Monarch timeout, though, juniors Shadasia Green (Paterson, N.J.) and Byrd locked up Whitney Simmons on a trap and forced her into a back-court violation.
Senior Jessica Canady (Williamsburg, Va.) would ice the victory with a pair of free-throws on the one-and-one bonus to end the game with 10 points. She added eight rebounds, three assists and a block as she continues to play well in conference action.
White led the way for the Seahawks, scoring 15 points with six rebounds, while Blackwell also added 14 points, eight rebounds and five steals in the setback.
Northeastern 61, Georgia State 53
Box Score
ATLANTA - Brittany Wilson's jumper with 7:30 remaining in the second half sparked a 13-2 run to give Northeastern a 61-53 comeback win over Georgia State on Thursday evening. Four Huskies reached double figures, led by Kim Carr with 17 points.
The Huskies shot 57.1 percent in the second half while holding Georgia State to 29 percent while also posting 10 steals in the game.
Northeastern opened the first half on a 10-0 run over 5:23, but the Panthers immediately responded with an 11-0 run to take the lead off a Brittany Graham jumper with 8:15 remaining. Northeastern took the lead again on a Carr three-point play. Georgia State tied the game at 13 on the next possession and used the three ball, hitting three in the final 5:45 of the half. A Danyiell McKeller tip in at the buzzer gave the Panthers a 31-22 lead at the half.
McKeller had 16 first half points while Wilson led Northeastern with seven points. The Huskies shot just 34.8 percent from the field while Georgia State shot 39.4 percent in the half.
A Kashaia Cannon three at 15:09 in the second half pulled the Huskies within three and started a 7-0 run to give Northeastern a 40-39 lead. The Panthers hit back-to-back three pointers to push the margin to five, but the Huskies stood their ground with Cannon and Carr hitting baskets to keep Northeastern within striking distance.
Wilson's jumper that sparked the run gave the Huskies the lead for good and a three from Deanna Kerkhof, her first points of the game, gave Northeastern a seven-point lead with 2:42 left to put the game out of reach for Georgia State.
Wilson ended with 14 points and nine rebounds while Kendra Walton had 12 points and seven rebounds, with Cannon rounding out the scoring with 10. Northeastern improves to 9-12 overall and 4-6 in CAA play.
McKeller led all scorers with 27 points as the only Georgia State player in double figures. Shay Rawls had 12 rebounds for the Panthers, who drop to 12-9 overall and 3-7 in conference.
Northeastern returns to action on Sunday, February 7 taking on Towson at 12 p.m. on The Comcast Network/Comcast Sports New England.
Delaware 84, William & Mary 55
Box Score
NEWARK, Del. -- Tesia Harris and Elena Delle Donne each surpassed the 20-point mark and the University of Delaware led wire-to-wire in an 84-55 rout over William & Mary in Colonial Athletic Association women's basketball action Thursday night at the Bob Carpenter Center.
Delaware (14-7, 6-4 CAA) posted its second highest point total of the season and matched its most lopsided victory margin in winning its second straight game and its third in the last four outings.
The Hens also improved to 7-2 at home this season and set the all-time single season home attendance record before an appreciative crowd of 2,042. Delaware has now defeated the Tribe 11 times in 15 all-time meetings with this win the biggest victory margin ever for the Hens in the series.
Harris connected for a game and season-high 26 points, including four three-pointers, Delle Donne knocked down 23 points and added nine rebounds and three block shots, and Danielle Parker chipped in witih 10 points and nine boards as the Hens jumped out to a 7-0 lead and were never threatened the entire night.
Ariene Jenkins provided another nice effort off the bench with seven points and six rebounds while point guard Kayla Miller dished out five assists and did not commit a turnover, and Jacquetta May added six points and five rebounds.
"This is my kind of game," said an upbeat Delaware head coach Tina Martin following the win. "Enough with those heart stoppers and buzzer beaters. This was a complete game by us today - everybody contributed. Everybody played well. We executed, we shared the ball and I was very happy with our man-to-man defense. I told the kids that I wanted to see their character, and they showed me their character. I thought they really took care of business tonight...a really solid effort put forth."
Athlete photoThe Hens have had seven games decided by four points or less this season and are 3-4 in those contests, including a heart-breaking 60-58 overtime loss on the road to CAA foe Drexel in their most recent outing on Sunday.
William & Mary (10-11, 3-7 CAA), which lost its third straight game and its fifth in the last six outings, could not get much offensively from anyone other than Taysha Pye, who finished with 22 points and seven rebounds. Tiffany Benson added 10 points and seven rebounds while Emily Correal pulled a team-high nine rebounds before fouling out.
Pye established a new BCC record for field goal attempts in a game as he converted 10 of 26 shots, breaking the mark of 25 attempts by Delaware's Cindy Johnson vs Maine on Jan. 25, 2001.
Delaware pulled down a season-high 25 offensive rebounds and finished with a dominating 46-35 advantage on the boards while committing a season-low seven turnovers and draining 6 of 13 three-point attempts.
The Tribe did connect on 15 of 29 second half shots from the field, but could never recover from a 10 for 34 shooting performance in the opening half that resulted in a 41-21 deficit at the break. William & Mary could also manage just 2 of 12 shooting from beyond the three-point arc.
Delle Donne drained a three-pointer at the top of the key just seven seconds into the contest, Parker followed with a layup, and Harris hit two free throws at the 18:45 to mark as the Hens jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead and never looked back.
The lead reached 13 points after a three-pointer by Harris at the 14:17 mark and climbed to 20 points after another trey from Harris with 5:04 left pushed the advantage to 35-15. The Hens stormed into intermission up 41-21 as Parker hit a jumper with four seconds left.
The outcome was never in doubt in the second half as the Hens made sure the lead did not fall below 15 points and scored 13 of the final 15 points of the game to cruise to the 29-point win.
The Hens, who will return to action Sunday when they host George Mason, broke the all-time single season attendance mark as they pushed the total to 23,584 (2,620 average) to surpass the previous record of 22,498 in 1996-97 with four games still to play.
Hofstra 72, George Mason 39
Box Score
Fairfax, VA - Senior center Jess Fuller had 14 points and became Hofstra's all-time leader in career blocked shots as Hofstra cruised to a 72-39 victory over George Mason on Thursday evening at the Patriot Center.
The 39 points allowed were the fewest Hofstra had allowed an opponent since a 70-39 win over Stetson on December 31, 2006.
Hofstra was led by sophomore guard Nicole Capurso, who scored 20 points on 7-11 shooting from the field in the contest. Redshirt sophomore guard Candice Bellocchio was also in double figures with 10 points, and added five assists.
The win moves Hofstra's record to 12-10 overall and 5-5 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). It was their third road win in the Pride's last four contests away from home. George Mason falls to 8-13 and 1-9 in CAA play with its fifth straight loss.
Fuller would break the school's all-time blocks record with 15:14 on the clock when she sent Brittany Eley's shot back and tallied career block number 176 in the process. She broke the previous record of 175 held by Vanessa Gidden, who played from 2003-07.
Fuller wasn't the only one reaching career milestones in the game as senior guard Sam Brigham appeared in her 110th career game for the Pride, tying her for seventh all-time in program history. Brigham would also hit a three-pointer midway through the second half that would give her 114 for her career, tying her with Diane Hobin (1991-95) for sixth all-time.
A dominating first half would see Hofstra take a 31-14 lead into the intermission as sophomore guard Nicole Capurso led the way with 11 points and Fuller was second with 10 points in the opening stanza.
With the score 10-8 in favor of the Pride following a three-pointer from Eley at the 13:49 mark, Hofstra proceeded to go on a 19-3 run that would see them lead 29-11 with just over two minutes left in the half. Capurso single-handedly got Hofstra started on the run as she scored the first the first eight points of the spurt, including a pair of three-pointers, to give the Pride a 18-8 advantage with 11:01 to play.
Hofstra was never challenged in the second half as the Pride would push the lead to over 30 points en route to the 33-point win. It was their largest margin of victory of the season, easily eclipsing the 25-point win at St. Francis (NY) earlier this season.
Brigham finished with eight points and six assists in the game, with her assist total tying a career-high. Evans led Hofstra with nine rebounds, while also chipping in with seven points.
George Mason was led by senior guard Rashauna Hobbs who scored ten points and freshman Amber Easter chipped in nine points.
Hofstra returns to action on Sunday when they host UNC Wilmington at 1 p.m.