CAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL RECAP - FEB. 7
Georgia State 63, William & Mary 60
Box Score
ATLANTA - The Panthers got "super" efforts from several players to post a 63-60 Super Bowl Sunday afternoon win over CAA rival, William & Mary.
Point guard Crystal Johnson had a personally "super" day with a triple-double of 12 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds and four steals, while Danyiell McKeller added 18 points, nine rebounds and 6-foot-3 freshman Cody Paulk came off the bench to provide six "super" blocked shots. Angelique Burtts contributed 12 points.
Georgia State (13-9, 4-7) and William & Mary (10-12, 3-8) swapped the lead 12 times to go with four ties in a full 40-minute battle. The Tribe was led by Janine Aldridge's 23 points on 7-of-14 treys, while Tiffany Benson added a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
William and Mary had re-gained the lead at 60-59 with 3:21 on a pair of free throws by Jaclyn McKenna. But, Georgia State senior guard Brittany Graham had the answer for Georgia State with a three from deep in the corner to give the host Panthers a 62-60 advantage with 3:21 to play in a shot that proved to be the difference.
Crystal Johnson made a final free throw on the front end of a one-and-one with 31.5 seconds left. William and Mary, who had gotten 7 three-point baskets from Janine Aldridge, tried to get her one last look with screens and picks, but Aldridge ended up traveling with 5.5 seconds left before she could get off a shot.
With 4.5 seconds left, Johnson missed the front end of this one-and-one and the visiting Tribe got the rebound and got off desperation 25-footer from Taysha Pye that banged off the backboard at the buzzer.
"Crystal Johnson exemplified what we wanted to show today, toughness and focus," said Coach Lea Henry. "We needed to be aggressive and make things happen. It was good to see we were resilient enough to bounce back from the tough loss on Thursday and get this win today."
"We got good efforts from a lot of different people today. We can always count on McKeller, but Cody Paulk gave us solid play inside in her best game of the season. Graham made that big shot and Angelique Burtts and Shay Rawls contributed 19 more points combined, too. I'm proud of the effort and of the team giving a full 40 minutes of hard work."
This was Georgia State's first-ever win over William and Mary in regular season, making the series now at 7-2, including the win in a conference tournament.
As the teams traded early scoring runs to start the game, William and Mary had gained the lead on Alridge's second trey at 19-17 with 12:20 in the first half. But, Crystal Johnson three-pointer gave GSU a lead they wouldn't lose until the second half. The host Panthers had built seven-point leads four different times in the first half, the last at 37-30 with 1:52 left in the first half. But, another Aldridge trey and a pair of baskets in the final minute of the half by Pye and Benson cut the lead to 39-37 in favor of GSU at halftime.
In the second half, Aldrdige's fifth trey gave William and Mary its largest lead of the game at 45-41 with 15:45 to play. But, the host Panthers had an answer with a 10-1 run to re-take the lead at 51-46 with
10:42 to go.
State was up by seven points at 55-48 with 8:46 to go when the Tribe made its strong run, led by center Tiffany Benson and Aldrige. The sixth and seventh treys of the game by Aldrige put the Tribe back up 58-57 with 4:44 to go.
State's league-leading defense had 10 steals, forced 17 Tribe turnovers and held W & M to 23 percent shooting in the second half.
But, William and Mary hurt itself by making just 6-of-16 free throws.
Crystal Johnson's 11 assists tied her personal-best for the third time as she continues leading the CAA and ranking in the top 25 in the nation, while her 10 rebounds were a personal high.
VCU 75, Old Dominion 56
Box Score
NORFOLK, Va. - Virginia Commonwealth University seniors D'Andra Moss and Kita Waller each scored their 1,000th career point and the Rams picked up their first win at Old Dominion in more than three decades with a 75-56 victory Sunday at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.
VCU, which improves to 16-7 and 9-2 in the Colonial Athletic Association, moves back into a tie with Old Dominion, which suffered its worst home loss since joining the league, for the top spot in the conference standings, while the Lady Monarchs slip to 11-10 overall, 9-2 in the CAA.
"The win today feels great, especially after the JMU loss Thursday night," said VCU Head Coach Beth Cunningham. "I'm really proud for the kids and happy for the team, especially our seniors, to be able to come down here and have the opportunity to pick up a win for the last time. It was great to seem them get the victory."
Waller led all scorers with 23 points, while Moss finished with 20. Sophomore forward Courtney Hurt registered her sixth double-double of the season with 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Rams.
Old Dominion junior guards Jasmine Parker and Kquanise Byrd each scored 12 points apiece, while sophomore forward Tia Lewis contributed seven points and 13 boards.
Sunday's game marked the second time in the last three seasons two Rams have reached the 1,000-point plateau in the same game. Former standouts Krystal Vaughn and Quanitra Hollingsworth accomplished the feat against Old Dominion on Jan. 17, 2008.
VCU got off to a rough start, hitting just three of its first 15 shots from the field and Old Dominion took a 15-6 advantage on a pair of free throws by Lewis at the 12:30 mark in the opening period.
The Rams settled down and scored nine-straight points and tied the score at 15 on a 3-pointer by Ebony Patterson with 8:23 showing. However, the Lady Monarchs answered with a trey of their own on the ensuing possession and went back on top 18-15.
VCU later followed with back-to-back baskets and took its first lead of the game, 19-18, on a jumper by Waller at the 6:46 mark.
Both teams traded field goals over the next three minutes as Old Dominion held a 26-25 advantage with 2:10 to go. However, Rams' sophomore guard Jennifer Lane hit a pair of free throws to put VCU back in front on the next possession.
Hurt continued the VCU run with four points in a matter of six seconds to give the Black & Gold a 31-26 lead. The Loganville, Ga., native hit a jumper to put VCU on top 29-26. She then stole the ensuing inbounds pass and drained a 10-footer to give the Black & Gold a five-point cushion.
Hurt, who scored the final six points of the first half, continued with her surge, converting a layup with eight seconds remaining to give the Rams a 33-26 lead at the break.
Moss, who led VCU with 14 points in the opening period, kept the Black & Gold close as she scored 12 of the Rams' first 17 points of the contest.
VCU scored four of the first five points in the second half and took a 37-27 advantage on a layup by Waller with 17:49 to go. The Lady Monarchs answered with a 6-0 run and pulled within four at the 16:11 mark.
Waller converted the traditional three-point play following a fast break with 15:56 remaining to put the Rams back on top 40-33. Two minutes later, Waller hit a 3-pointer to extend the VCU margin to 45-35.
Old Dominion pulled within 50-42 at the 10:46 mark but it was as close as the Lady Monarchs would get the rest of the game.
After hitting just 25 percent of hits shots midway through the first half, VCU recovered to shoot 49.2 percent (30-of-61) on the game, while Old Dominion shot 34 percent (18-of-53) from the field.
VCU returns to the court on Thursday, Feb. 11 for a Noon tipoff at Hofstra.
Hofstra 73, UNC Wilmington 58
Box Score
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. - Freshman forward Shante Evans scored 28 points and tied a career-high with five steals while senior guard Sam Brigham added 16 points to push Hofstra to a 73-58 win over UNC Wilmington in a Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) matchup Sunday afternoon at the Mack Sports Complex.
Evans (West Chester, PA) hauled in seven rebounds and shot 11-14 from the field, forming a potent inside-outside combination with Brigham (Simsbury, CT) and sophomore guard Nicole Capurso (Staten Island, NY), who scored nine of her 12 total points in the second half.
Sophomore Candice Bellocchio (Staten Island, NY) racked up nine assists and nine points as Hofstra won its second straight and third in the past four games to improve to 13-10 and 6-5 in CAA play. Brittany Blackwell (15 points) and Martha White (10 points) scored in double figures for UNC Wilmington as the Seahawks fell to 7-15 and 2-9.
Hofstra drained six of its 13 three-point attempts as the team shot 50 percent from the field overall. The Pride forged an 11-2 second-half run to turn a one-point lead into a comfortable margin. One game after defeating George Mason, 72-39, the Pride has out-scored opponents by 48 points during its two-game winning streak.
Bellocchio's nine assists came against just two turnovers as the point guard produced a highlight-type play in the second half. Bellocchio gained midcourt and continued to race to the foul line before hitting a driving Evans with a behind-the-back pass. Evans made the basket while getting fouled. The first-year forward then capped a 9-0 Hofstra run with a shot off the glass the next trip down, putting Hofstra ahead, 48-38, midway through the second half.
Minutes later, Capurso added a right-wing three-pointer and found Bellocchio on a good pass for the layup on the Pride's next score as Hofstra extended its lead to a game-high 60-47 with 5:25 left to secure the win.
The Pride's frontcourt depth took an early hit when senior center Jess Fuller was injured under the Hofstra basket and had to leave the game just 5:16 in. Fuller (Queens, NY), who is second on the team in scoring and rebounding and leads the team in blocks, did not return to the game.
Hofstra compensated for Fuller's absence by shooting 63.6 percent from the field in the opening half. Evans found an early groove in low post, scoring 16 points on 6-7 shooting before the break.
Brigham added an outside threat in hitting four of five shots, including a left-wing three pointer with five seconds left to lift Hofstra to a 36-34 halftime lead.
Both teams wore special warm-ups and pink shoelaces as part of the annual Pink Zone game to promote breast cancer awareness. Hofstra also held a rally raffle to benefit the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund.
Fuller was presented with a commemorative basketball before tipoff after breaking Vanessa Gidden's all-time Hofstra blocks record in Hofstra's previous game against George Mason.
UNC Wilmington was led by Brittany Blackwell, who recorded a double-double with 15 points and 14 assists. Martha White also scored in double figures, tallying ten points.
The Pride will be back in action Thursday when it hosts Virginia Commonwealth. The weekday game will have a noon start time.