ELON, NC – Playing its fourth game in seven days, UNC Greensboro set a school record in the Division I era for fewest points allowed in a 56-35 victory over Elon in Southern Conference women’s basketball action Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gym.
UNCG (8-9, 4-4 SoCon) junior forward Irene Otamiri scored all of her team-high 11 points in the first half, while sophomore guards Kristen Boone and Kemena Brooks each tossed in eight points. Boone, who entered the game second in the country with 4.8 steals per game, had seven to bring her total to 34 in the last five games.
Kitara McMoore fell just short of her ninth double-double of the season with 14 points and eight rebounds. Tierra Bumbrey added seven points for Elon (7-9, 3-5 SoCon), who have now dropped two in a row.
UNCG limited its opposition to only one field goal in the first 9:51of the second half to open a 36-25 lead after a fast-break layup by Brooks with 10:40 on the clock. McMoore canned a jumper for the Phoenix, but the Spartans followed that with a 15-0 run over the next 5:17 to take a 51-27 lead after another layup by Brooks at the 4:41 mark.
The Spartans took their largest lead of the game, 54-29, on freshman guard Gini Grimsley’s second 3-pointer of the contest at the 2:16 mark as UNCG was well on its way to improving to 3-1 on the road in the SoCon this year.
Elon scored only 12 points in the second half, which was one shy of East Tennessee State’s all-time low of 11 points scored in a single half against the Spartans. Elon shot a miserable 28.6 percent (6-of-21) from the field in the second half, compared to 39.3 percent (11-of-28) for the Spartans. The Phoenix did not get to the free throw line in the entire second half.
“Playing our fourth game in a week, I knew our depth would have to play a part in getting a win today,” said UNCG head coach Lynne Agee. “Having the ability to get fresh legs out their really helped us today”. The Spartans got 24 points from the bench with all 13 players seeing action.
UNCG gained a 14-9 advantage after a turn-around jumper by Boone at the 11:30 mark of the first half. The Phoenix countered with three straight buckets to take its first lead of the afternoon, 16-14, on a layup by McMoore with 5:58 showing on the clock.
The Spartans would go almost seven minutes without a field goal until Otamiri drilled a 3-pointer to tie the game at 18-18 and junior forward KaLeah Latham immediately followed with two from the free throw line to give the visitors a 20-18 lead with 4:17 left until halftime.
In the closing minutes, UNCG featured back-to-back layups by senior forward Ashley Current and a jumper by Otamiri with four seconds left to send the Spartans into intermission with a 26-23 lead.
McMoore, who leads the Socon in both scoring and rebounding, had 12 points and six rebounds after 20 minutes of play, while Otamiri paced the Spartans with 11 points and Boone already had five steals at the break. Also, each team shot 33.3 percent from the field and made 5-of-6 attempts from the charity stripe in the first half.
The Spartans previous low for points allowed came in a 74-38 win over North Carolina A&T on January 19, 2000. UNCG began playing at the DI level during the 1991-92 campaign.
UNCG hosts league foe Wofford on Tuesday night at 7 pm at Fleming Gym. Meanwhile, Elon hosts conference rival Furman on Monday night at 6 pm.
GAME NOTES: UNCG entered the game with an RPI of 188 according to collegerpi.com, which is the third best in the SoCon... Elon was at 217... The Spartans used the same starting lineup for the seventh straight game... Kristen Boone entered the game leading the conference in free throws made (34) and free throws attempted (41)... Boone has a steal in all 41 games of her career and an unbelievable 34 in the last five games... UNCG is now 3-1 in the SoCon on the road... UNCG improves to 8-2 when leading at halftime... Elon is now 5-2 at home this season and is 1-6 when trailing at the half.
AGATE
UNC GREENSBORO 56, ELON 35
UNC GREENSBORO (8-9, 4-4 SoCon)
OTAMIRI, Irene 5-7 0-0 11; BROOKS, Kemena 3-5 1-2 8; BOONE, Kristen
1-11 6-6 8; LATHAM, KaLeah 2-6 3-4 7; GRIMSLEY, Gini 2-3 0-0 6;
CHAMBERLAIN, Meghan 3-5 0-0 6; CURRENT, Ashley 3-4 0-0 6; DIXON,
Jasmine 1-5 0-0 2; JACKSON, Shanika 1-1 0-0 2; LING, Ashley 0-1 0-0
0; BYRD, Jasmine 0-9 0-0 0; MULLINS, Ashley 0-1 0-0 0; BLAIR,
Caroline 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-58 10-12 56.
ELON (7-9, 3-5 SoCon)
McMOORE, Kitara 5-9 4-4 14; BUMBREY, Tierra 3-13 0-0 7; SCHAFRANEK,
Alexa 2-2 0-0 4; SHIPLEY, Robyn 1-4 0-0 3; MOORE, Shashonna 1-6 0-0
2; DONKIN, Myra 1-6 0-0 2; IBRAHIM, Aisha 1-1 0-0 2; WHIDDEN, Katie
0-1 1-2 1; WILLIAMS, Maxine 0-0 0-0 0; KING, Nikko 0-0 0-0 0;
ALLISON, Nicole 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 14-45 5-6 35.
Halftime: UNC Greensboro 26-23. 3-point goals-UNC Greensboro 4-12 (GRIMSLEY, Gini 2-3; BROOKS, Kemena 1-3; OTAMIRI, Irene 1-2; DIXON, Jasmine 0-1; BYRD, Jasmine 0-2; BOONE, Kristen 0-1), Elon 2-14 (SHIPLEY, Robyn 1-4; BUMBREY, Tierra 1-5; DONKIN, Myra 0-3; ALLISON, Nicole 0-2). Fouled out--UNC Greensboro-None, Elon-None. Rebounds-UNC Greensboro 38 (OTAMIRI, Irene 6), Elon 30 (McMOORE, Kitara 8). Assists-UNC Greensboro 14 (BOONE, Kristen 4), Elon 8 (DONKIN, Myra 2; ALLISON, Nicole 2; SHIPLEY, Robyn 2). Total fouls-UNC Greensboro 9, Elon 12. A-161.
- UNCG -