CAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL RECAP - JAN. 11
Drexel 71, Hofstra 66
Box Score
Philadelphia - Drexel knocked down 5-of-6 free throws in the final 33 seconds to sink Hofstra (9-5, 1-2) in dramatic fashion 71-66 in front of a regional television audience on The Comcast Network. Drexel's defense came up big in the final minutes to help the Dragons (7-7, 2-1 CAA) rally from a five-point deficit in the last four minutes of play. Gabriela Marginean led Drexel with 21 points and Jasmina Rosseel added 15 after shooting a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range in the first half. Nicole Hester grabbed a team-leading eight rebounds and came up with a key steal and a block in the final moments of the game.
Hofstra’s Joelle Connelly (12 points, 12 rebounds) and Jess Fuller (15 points, 11 rebounds) both posted double-doubles for the Pride, who rallied from a 15-point hole in the first half to lead by as much as six points in the second period. The Pride used a 11-0 run to close out the half trailing by just four points, 34-30, after being behind by double-figures for much of the period. Hofstra opened the second half with a 14-5 push and took the lead for the first time since the opening minutes on a Nicole Capurso three-pointer.
Capruso’s second three-pointer, just minutes later, would give the Pride its largest lead of the game, 54-48 with 9:22 to play. Capruso made three of her first four three-point attempts in the second period en route to a game-high 21 points. But from that juncture, Drexel took advantage of spotty free-throw shooting by the Pride and used solid offensive execution to get back in the game.
Kamile Nacickaite came off the bench to knock down a three-pointer from the top of the arc to take back the lead for her team, briefly, 57-55 with 7:46 to go. Capruso’s third three-pointer of the period put Hofstra back on top by one, but the Dragons’ defense congealed to stymie the Pride and create the opportunity for Drexel to pull ahead.
Marginean poached a steal in the land and drove the length of the court for a layup to put Drexel ahead 61-58 at the 4:58 mark. A pair of Marisa Crane layup augmented Drexel’s lead to five points, but Hofstra’s dominant front court tandem of Fuller and Connelly tied the game at 63 apiece on a pair of buckets in the lane.
With the score knotted at 63-63 and just over two minutes left in the game, Nicole Hester drew an offensive foul on a driving Aamira Terry. On the ensuing Drexel possession, Rosseel knocked down her fifth three-pointer of the game, putting Drexel on top 66-64 with 1:12 left. Another jumper by Capruso evened the score yet again with under a minute in the game.
Freshman Tyler Hale would draw a foul on the Dragons’ next possession and confidently drain her first free-throw attempt to give her team a 67-66 lead. On the other end of the court Hale’s pestering defense on Fuller forced her to miss from close range and the Dragons got the ball back. Andrea Peterson and Marginean went 4-for-4 from the line in the last 11.7 seconds to close out a 16-for-17 shooting performance from the line and a thrilling Drexel victory.
Marginean shot a perfect 9-for-9 from the charity stripe to extend her consecutive free-throw streak to 34 tosses without a miss. Drexel overcame a 29-percent shooting performance in the second half and also managed to weather being out rebound by Hofstra 40-32. The Dragons’ defense came up with 11 steals, led by Marginean’s trio of swipes, and forced 23 Hofstra turnovers. Drexel converted the miscues into 25 points on its end of the court. Peterson led the Dragons with six assists and, for the second game in a row, she did not commit a single turnover.
Old Dominion 66, Northeastern 56
Box Score
BOSTON, Mass. -- Sophomore Jasmine Parker (Norfolk, Va.) netted a team-high 17 points and senior Tiffany Green (Chesapeake, Va.) poured in a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards in the Old Dominion women's basketball team's 66-56 victory at Northeastern on a snowy Sunday afternoon.
The Lady Monarchs, who won their third straight, improved to 8-5 overall and 3-0 in the CAA. Northeastern, meanwhile, fell to 4-10 overall and 1-2 in league action.
Old Dominion led by just two, 25-23, at the half before Green exploded for all 12 of her points in half number two.
Leading by four, 31-35, with 14:11 left in the game, Old Dominion proceeded to take a 9-3 run sparked by a Parker three for its first double digit lead of the afternoon. Northeastern would pull no closer than seven the rest of the way.
Green, who was limited to only two looks at the basket in the first half,shot 6-of-8 from the field in the second half.
Also joining Parker and Green in double figures was senior Jazzmin Walters (Norfolk, Va.) with 15. Walters also added in six assists and three steals.
Northeastern had two in double figures led by Kim Carr with 18. Kendra Walton, who connected on 3-of-4 from three-point range, added in 17 all coming in the second half.
Towson 68, George Mason 47
Box Score
FAIRFAX, Va. ? The Towson basketball team shot 46.3% including 56% in the first half en route to a 68-47 victory over George Mason on Sunday afternoon. The Tigers (9-4, 1-2 CAA) snapped a two-game losing streak as junior guard Shanae Baker-Brice and sophomore guard Simona Petronyte combined to score 35 points in the contest.
After George Mason scored the first basket of the game, Towson responded by going on an 8-0 run to grab an 8-2 lead with 18:15 to go in the first half. Baker-Brice scored six of the Tigers’ eight during that stretch. The Tigers extended their lead to 16-4 as junior forward Kandace Davis hit a jumper at 15:33. Towson continued to hit its shots as Petronyte sunk a three-pointer at 7:11 to make it a 27-10 game. Towson continued their hot shooting as a pair of free throws from junior forward Katrina Wheeler at 5:01 made it a 29-14 game in favor of the visitors. The two teams traded baskets over the final five minutes of the half as the Tigers took a 37-27 lead into the locker room.
Towson shot 56% in the first half and 70% from the foul line while George Mason shot 33.3% from the field and 83.3% from the foul line.
George Mason came out of the half and sunk its first bucket to cut its deficit to nine at 38-29. That however was as close as the Patriots would get the rest of the way. Towson responded with an 11-4 run to increase its lead to 49-33 with 12:54 to play. Baker-Brice had four during that spurt. The Patriots would cut the Tigers’ lead to 11 on a three-pointer by Deidre Richardson with 9:18 to play. The two teams continued to trade baskets over the next couple of minutes with a free throw by sophomore forward Dovile Miliauskaite at 3:38 making it a 63-42 game. Miliauskaite’s basket gave the Tigers their largest lead of the contest to that point. The two teams traded baskets over the final three minutes with senior guard Brandy Black’s free throw at 24 seconds providing the final margin at 68-47.
Towson finished the game with a 41-38 advantage in the rebounding battle and shot 46.3% from the floor to George Mason’s 30%.
The Tigers had a balanced scoring attack in the contest as all 14 players saw time and 11 players scored at least one point in the game. Baker-Brice finished with 20 points, four rebounds, seven assists and only two turnovers in 32 minutes of action. Her 20 points in the contest give her 987 career points, just 13 shy of becoming the 14th player in school history to reach 1,000 points for their career.
Petronyte contributed 15 points, just one shy of her career-high. Wheeler posted her fifth “double-double” of the season as she finished with 11 points and 16 rebounds.
Brittany Poindexter paced the Patriots with 11 points and six rebounds while Brittney Wilkins had a team-high seven rebounds. Eugenia Broadus finished with eight points and six boards in the contest.
Wiliam & Mary 59, UNC Wilmington 55
Box Score
WILLIAMSBURG - Junior Tiffany Benson (Virginia Beach, Va.) provided the knock-out blows in the second half after classmate Kelly Heath (Suffield, Conn.) set-up the UNC Wilmington Seahawks in the first half as the William and Mary women's basketball team held on for a 59-55 conference victory Sunday afternoon at Kaplan Arena. The Tribe, off to a very good start at 10-4, 3-0 CAA, kept pace atop the conference standings, while UNC Wilmington fell to 7-7 (1-2 CAA) with its sixth loss in a row in Williamsburg.
Three days after setting a career-high with 24 points against Drexel, Benson nearly bettered that today, scoring 23 points, 16 of them in the second half. She had a double-double in the second half alone, pulling in 10 rebounds in the final 20 minutes to finish with 17 overall, and nearly had the Tribe's first-ever triple-double, blocking eight UNCW shots. The eight rejections are a career-high for Benson and a school-record performance, one better than the seven she had against the Seahawks last season and against Norfolk State in November. With 46 blocks in just 14 games, this season already ranks as the third-best in school history, behind only the 67 blocks Benson had as a freshman and the 58 she added in 2007-08 as a sophomore.
Heath was close to reprising her career-best outing of 25 points against the Seahawks last season in Williamsburg, scoring 22 points today including four triples. Impressively, 20 of her points came in the first-half alone, matching the output of the entire UNCW team in the half. Sophomore Katy Oblinger (Altoona, Pa.) had five points, five rebounds, and five assists, and senior Dani Kell (Lutherville, Md.) tied her season-high with 12 rebounds.
After UNCW jumped out to a 6-0 lead to open the game, Benson put the Tribe on the scoreboard with a traditional three-point play at the 15-minute mark. The fireworks would really start about three minutes later, however, with a jumper from Heath that brought the Tribe to within one at 10-9 and ignited a 21-2 run over the next 10 minutes. Heath accounted for 14 of the Tribe's points in the stretch, including knocking in all four of her three-pointers in a row. She would finish the half with her 19th and 20th points on the put-back of her own missed lay-up with just under 40 seconds left in the period.
Up 12 at the intermission, the Tribe again needed time to find its offensive footing in the second half, and again it was Benson who the post-up move that broke the scoring drought and drew the foul for the chance at a three-point play. The junior accounted for the first six points of the half for W&M, and 12 of the first 14 points on her way to scoring 16 in the final 15 minutes. Twice UNC Wilmington regained a one-point lead in the second half, and both times, Benson came through at the free-throw line, first to retake the lead at 47-46 with a pair of makes, and then to tie the game at 53-all with the front end of a one-and-one. Benson's final points of the game with 1:41 to go put the Tribe up two, 55-53, and it was the W&M seniors, Kell and Courtney Portell (Woodbridge, Va.) who each made a pair of free throws in the final 30 seconds that iced the win for the Green and Gold.
Georgia State 55, Delaware 48
Box Score
ATLANTA (Jan. 11) ? Georgia State upped its season home record to 7-0 with a 55-48 Colonial Athletic Association victory over Delaware on Sunday afternoon at the Sports Arena.
Georgia State (9-4, 2-1) overcame a rash of injuries in battling the league’s top-ranked defensive team in Delaware, who allowed just 51 per game.
The Panthers lost leading scorer and rebounder Danyiell McKeller to an injury after eight minutes. Then, both freshman guards Crystal Johnson and Jylisa Williams limped on and off with injuries. Junior forward Shay Rawls was slowed by the flu, but gave 12 minutes.
Georgia State got 13 points from guards Jylisa Williams on 5-of-9 and 11 points from Crystal Johnson on 4-of-7 shooting to go with her team-best eight rebounds. Chandra Harris came off the bench to replace McKeller and responded with nine points, while Brittany Graham came off the bench to add eight points. Senior leader Brittany Hollins set the tempo with eight points and six steals. Leading scorer and rebounder McKeller did not score or grab a rebound due to her injury.
Delaware (8-6, 0-3) was led in scoring by 10 points off the bench from Jocelyn Bailey. Vanessa Kabongo and Corinthia Benson each added eight points, while Ariene Jenkins had eight rebounds to lead the Blue Hens.
Georgia State jumped out to a 10-2 lead to start the game, led by as many as nine points twice and took a 26-19 lead into halftime after shooting 55 percent in the opening stanza against the league’s top-rated defense that allowed just 34 percent.
In the second half, Delaware came charging out with second-chance points to tie the game for the first time at 30 with 15:21. But, host State responded to re-gain a 35-30 lead.
Delaware tied it again at 42 with 7:27 left.
Georgia State’s freshman guards Williams and Johnson then went to work. A driving layup and free throw by Williams gave State the lead it would not lose again at 45-44 with 5:52. Johnson had a run of six straight points to put State ahead 51-46 with 3:20 to go. Delaware closed to 52-48 with 1:57, but two more free throws by Williams sent State on the path to victory.
“I am pleased with the toughness the team showed today,” coach Lea Henry said. “They executed at crucial times and answered when we ask them to do specific things. Missing McKeller obviously hurt us, but we didn’t get too frustrated and kept fighting and really played hard on the defensive end. I thought Brittany Hollins’ effort was tremendous on defense with her six steals and she stepped up on the offensive end in the stretch also.
With Delaware leading the league in scoring allowed and shooting percentage, plus Georgia State leading in steals and forced turnovers, defense was going to be a factor in this game. Georgia State forced 24 Delaware turnovers and Delaware forced the Panthers into 22 turnovers.
Georgia State held Delaware to 34 percent for the game and State shot 42 percent. Delaware claimed a 34-32 rebound advantage with 17 offensive boards, but State also had 13 on its offensive end.
VCU 81, James Madison 48
Box Score
HARRISONBURG, Va. ? The James Madison Convocation Center is known around the Colonial Athletic Association as one of the toughest places to play for anyone.
The Virginia Commonwealth University women’s basketball team made it look easy on Sunday afternoon as it gave a dominating second-half performance to give the Dukes of James Madison their worst loss in the CAA history inside the arena, 81-48.
Junior D’Andra Moss (Atlanta, Ga.) poured in 20 points off the bench and senior Quanitra Hollingsworth (Chesapeake, Va.) tallied yet another double-double with 16 points, all in the second half, and 11 rebounds to lead the potent offensive attack.
The VCU defense was the story holding the Dukes to just 8-of-32 shooting in the second half and 29.3% for the game. It also forced 21 JMU turnovers, including seven from one of the league’s best point guards in Dawn Evans.
“I really can’t say enough about the effort our kids gave today,” Head Coach Beth Cunningham said. “Everyone knows how tough a place to play this easy and to come in with the intensity and focus we did is outstanding. We’ve been talking about putting together a full 40-minute game, and this is about as close as we can get at this point of the season.”
It was a physical first half that featured five lead changes and three ties within the first 15 minutes of play.
Back-to-back jumpers from senior Radoslava Bachvarova (Varna, Bulgaria) and freshman Jennifer Lane (Wichita, Kan.) staked the Black and Gold to an early 8-4 advantage with 14:00 to play in the half.
After JMU tied the game at 8-8 on a Kanita Shepherd jumper, four points from emerging freshman Courtney Hurt (Loganville, Ga.) capped off a 10-4 VCU run that gave the Rams a six-point lead at 18-12 with 6:48 showing on the first half clock.
The nation’s leading scorer would take over for the Dukes scoring seven straight points to claim a 19-18 in favor of James Madison with 5:11 left before halftime.
VCU’s defense locked down for the final 3:28 of the half holding the Dukes without a field goal and five points from Moss sparked an 11-2 run that sent the Rams into the halftime break with a 31-23 advantage.
After being held scoreless in the first half, Hollingsworth took over after the break with seven points in the first 3:13 to stake VCU to a 41-27 lead.
Back-to-back jumpers from junior La’Tavia Rorie (Charlotte, N.C.) sparked a 12-2 run mid-way through the second half as the Black and Gold held a 53-35 advantage with 12:42 to play.
VCU’s lock down defense was outstanding holding James Madison to just two field goals over the final 10 minutes of action to give the Rams their second straight win at the Convocation Center.
Moss’s 20 points led all scorers, while Hollingsworth’s double-double was her seventh of the year and 44th of her career.
Hurt came off the bench to chip in a career-high 10 points, while junior Kita Waller (Gainesville, Ga.) tallied nine points and Bachvarova finished with eight on the afternoon.
Evans was held to just 5-of-20 shooting thanks to an outstanding defensive effort by Lane. The nation’s leading scorer entering the game was held to 17 points, over six points below her season average. Kisha Stokes was the only other Duke in double-digits with 11.