Lady Eagles Unable to Match Wildcats' Treys

DAVIDSON, N.C. - The Georgia Southern Lady Eagles were hindered by first-half turnovers and were unable to match the Davidson Wildcats treys in a 72-48 loss Monday. Reigning Southern Conference Player of the Month, Sophia Aleksandravicius, became the 15th player in Davidson history to reach the 1,000 career-point mark in the Wildcats' second Southern Conference win in as many tries.

"We had three keys that we had to do tonight, and we got beaten in all three. We have got to continue to get better, stay focused and play the mental game as well as the physical game," said Head Coach Rusty Cram.

Behind MiMi DuBose's (Jefferson, Ga.) 10 points on four-for-six shooting, Georgia Southern (2-8, 0-2) shot 34% from the floor. DuBose tallied her third straight game with double-digit points. The Lady Eagles scored 18 points in the paint but took only five shots from behind the arc. Samantha Williams (Kingsport, Tenn.) drained one of the two made treys and scored eight points. A bright spot in the post game, Briana Scott (Dumfries, Va.) tallied season highs in points with six and rebounds with five in 22 minutes of action.

"I thought Briana Scott had a great night," said Cram. "We are trying to find a post game and build from that. We are looking for two post players to give us some strong minutes, some points, rebounds and good defense."

Davidson (5-4, 2-0) scored 18 points on six-for-12 shooting from downtown and shot 41.4% from the floor. Laura Murray led the Wildcat offense with 13 points and drained half of the threes. Aleksandra Vicius notched 12 points, while Jasmine Calin added 10. All twelve Davidson players who played in the contest scored at least one point.

"They were hot. They were hitting on all cylinders," stated Cram. "We faced a very, very good basketball team. We tried several different looks at them but they seemed to be able to read it and take it to us."

The Wildcats led by as many as 17 points in the first period and 38-22 at the halftime break behind timely three-point shooting by Murray. The Lady Eagles shot 35% in the period but were held in check with 13 turnovers in the first half. Davidson capitalized on the turnovers to the tune of 15 points and scored 16 points in the paint.

DuBose scored six points in the first period to lead Georgia Southern, who pulled to within 13 points late in the half before Murray drained a three as time expired.  The Wildcat's Sophomore guard sparked an 8-0 run by Davidson to erase Georgia Southern's early 4-3 lead. The Lady Eagles remained within as many as nine points with 8:21 to play in the first half, but a 16-9 run by Davidson to close out the half extended the deficit to 16.

Sarah Davis drained a bucket with 12:16 to play in the second half to give the Wildcats a 22-point advantage. Davis extended the lead to 25 points with her sixth point of the second half at the 9:10 mark. Georgia Southern could only manage to pull within 22 points when Anna Claire Knight (Dublin, Ga.) hit a three with 3:10 to play, cutting the lead to 68-46.

The Lady Eagles get right back to work after a day's break, hosting Jacksonville at 5 p.m. on Wednesday. Tickets can be purchased at the door or by calling 1-800-GSU-WINS.

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Category: Women's Basketball

Published on Monday, 19 December 2011 22:10